Humanity's Ascension
by SCBM
Summary: The aliens have thwarted the earthen military's and now bring peace to the planet. But bullets and plasma won't save the humans from there assimilation, the mind is a powerful thing, and a certain alien will help a human in unlocking the potential to save everyone, no matter how long it will take.
1. Act I: New Isa

Act I: New Isa

"I have your results right here Mr. Weldon, I'm sorry to say that the tests say positive."

The nurse wore a white coat, with a pained look on her face, as if she was Mr. Weldon's family, come to see him off. Weldon had butterflies in his stomach as he awaited for the big news. He tried readying himself mentally, but it didn't matter if it were now or in twenty years, he would still feel dead on the inside when she spoke those words.

For a man in his late twenties, this was surprising. Life expectancy had risen significantly since the visitors had come down from the skies, setting up clinics to help the sick, just like the one he resided in now.

Fossil fuels were being pushed aside, it was his last day to work in a factory, and look where that got him.

"I see…" is all he could force out of his mouth. Though his voice was deep, and filled with calm, his mind was ripping itself apart. Perhaps it would be better if he never knew of this, he felt like he was going crazy with worry.

The nurse flicked her hair back, she was quite young, and had the face and body of a model, but he knew he had no chance, she knew his weakness, and he didn't want that, besides, she was out of his league.

"You're in a spot of luck sir." She replies with a high tone, and in a prideful way.

"Luck? No, no luck for me." His voice sounded as if in a bottomless ocean.

"Don't be so quick to judge, I'm sure you'll be jumping around in a few seconds."

She claps her hands and giggles, Weldon didn't even bother showing off the awkwardness he felt. She reached below her desk and pushed towards him a small folder. Reluctantly, he opened it and spotted several ads inside. Each depicted a chip, with jagged teeth coming out of a small square base, it looked quite crude.

He glazed over the words while scratching his crew cut with one hand. Some words jumped out at him, like 'Gene Therapy' and 'Bio-chip, the cure for all diseases!'.

"ADVENT assures you that the Therapy is the key to a better tomorrow, I even had this done to myself, just look at me! No flues, no diseases, and I fell like half my age!" the nurse said happily.

That would probably make her ten years old.

"So this thing…" he motions to the Biochip, its teeth now looking like a pair of jaws. "Where's it go?"

"In the back of your head, your put to sleep while our fine doctors help you out. It helps monitor your health, so we can keep you in the optimal range of healthiness." She gives him some photos of people who looked like scientists, standing next to people on beds, smiling contently, it reminded him of a bad television ad.

"I…I will thing about it." he says as he hands the folder and photos back to her.

She gives a childish frown. "I'm sure you'll come around, it's for your own good you know, you should take it, it beats what you have."

"How long do I have?" he asked, ignoring her.

Now she lost her enthusiasm. "About five years, that is if you take it easy, no running and gunning, know what I mean?"

Weldon stands up. "Can't promise you anything. I need to go get some rest."

"OK, come back before unification day, that's the longest you can wait, enjoy your night!"

But he had already been halfway out of the office by the time she finished. He strode passed rows of beds and equipment, all of it linked together through countless wires. He was only half a minutes' walk from the lobby, about twenty people were lined up, booking or taking appointments, a lone guard in dark armour kept a constant watch over them, but paid no mind to the man walking away from it all.

The streets of New Isa were lit up with countless neon lights, the reds and blues reflected off the wet pavements and roads, it had been raining, giving the look of cleanliness to every surface. Giant buildings reached up into the sky, hundreds of stories high. One long main road cut through the city like a knife, it held the clinic in the centre, splitting off the two major districts.

Townside, the southern district, this was where he was going.

He was alone on this still night, he passed by café's and bustling restraints, but none of that mattered, he just wanted to go home. The clinic behind him was like a beacon, a symbol of hope to the people, it lit up the night sky with a great aura, but put what its light couldn't reach, into darkness.

Weldon kept up his pace, his feet moving swiftly over the path on the sidewalk.

He knew he wasn't alone, two sets of feet were behind him, they trailed him ever since he left the clinic. Only now, that he had passed into a quiet street, did they decide to announce themselves.

"Wait up man!" A tough voice called out from one of them.

In front of him was one more guy, wearing a white and black suit, he stopped and looked back to the two behind him. They wore similar attire, only they all bore dark hoods to conceal themselves.

Weldon brought his hands out of his jacket, showing he was unarmed.

"How was your therapy?" The same voice asked, they were completely covered, no skin could be seen.

"Not for me."

"Huh…well, perhaps you'd like to give us some doll', so _we_ can go get some."

"I don't have any…"

"Cut the crap, that shit costs so much, we saw you go in there. You're a fucking alien sympathiser, you want them in our brains, don't you? There in yours right now! Now hand it over, we don't have to get ugly

These guys wouldn't take 'no' for an answer, so he played along.

"But you already are, can't help you."

The one who talked had punched him in the stomach a second later, Weldon doubled over and coughed hard. The guy behind him had kicked his hip, and pushed him forwards.

Using his new found momentum, Weldon brought up his fist, and collided it with the one in charge. They tumbled to the ground, but he didn't stop there, he continued to pound the suited man's face until the other two stopped him. Now they begun kicking him relentlessly, but he managed another sentence through gutting wheezes.

"Robbing…a sick…man, aren't you…tough?"

The one in charge was bleeding, still on the ground. This brought a small smile to Weldon's face.

-XXX-

A2 was assigned as a new peacekeeper in New Isa, Australia. Her leaders dubbed her to incompetent, or simply not needed for real combat duty. There wasn't much fighting on earth since her and her masters had came and brought peace to this war torn world. But she still felt like she could be at least _some_ help in the line of duty.

But in this place, this city surrounded by scorching deserts, there was no use for anyone here, apart from living simple lives. But New Isa was different, filled with back washed humans, treating her and the other races with disrespect, though this wasn't new for her kind, they were the lowest race of them all, now the humans were below them, but they didn't act like it.

The patrolled main street for most nights, her and a trooper. The trooper wore dark armour from head to toe, only the crooked lips could be seen. She was disgusted about how it looked, even with the armour on, the Elders had not nearly treated a body like this before.

A2 couldn't think about this now, she heard the sounds of a brawl not too far ahead, she had superior hearing and eyesight than humans do, so she didn't think twice before rushing down to where the fight was.

A minute of running into darker streets, she spied a group of men, two of them lying down, the others were kicking one of the downed men. Her trooper yelled something in the horrible trooper dialect, and rushed in, using his gun like a bat. It bashed one of the kicking mans heads in before the other had pulled out a gun and fired it twice, right into the troopers chest.

Now the ground was paved a thick red.

A2 didn't hesitate as she charged her green beam rifle, and fired once at the gunner, it drops and the light fades from his eyes.

One of the men laying on the ground had begun walking away, clutching at his face. She got her tongue ready, and lashed it out to him, reeling him in like the prey he was. It was forced to turn to her, its dark face was full of fear.

"No! Please!"

But its voice became sounds of suffocation, her tail had come up and squeezed his windpipe shut, he didn't last a minute before falling faint in her death grip. She released him and turned to the remaining human.

"You alright?" She asked in human English. It groans as it staggers to its feet and looks at her. He was slightly shorter than she was, her six foot stature was a rather intimidating trait of her kind, that, and poisonous fangs.

He coughs blood before speaking to her.

"Fine, t-thanks." His green eyes are filled with gratefulness.

She nods, and signals for him to wait, she calls in the incident on her radio. Then places her hand and gun by her side. She could smell the fear coming off him like a dog smells food, so she turns back to him.

"Well done, fighting them off for so long."

A small chuckle escapes him. "Yeah, I'm no warrior though."

They stayed silent for awhile, eventually the howling sirens of two ADVENT sedans pulled up on the street nearby, several troopers where lead by one of her own kind, she issued orders to secure the bodies and the area. A2 is handed a datapad from one of the troopers, she motions the man to follow her to one of the cars.

She gave him a bottle of water from within the car, he accepted it gratefully as she pulled open a new page for a report.

"Name?" she asks.

"Luc, Luc Weldon." He raises his arm with an outstretched hand, she curiously watches him as he lowers it a moment later. She writes this down, along with what she had seen him doing.

"What's yours?"

She raises her cold orange eyes in surprise. "What?"

"What's _your_ name?"

"Oh, its…A2." She said in slight embarrassment, her 'name' was not what she thought it was.

Luc almost scoffs at her before replying. "That's not much of a name but, still, thanks A2, I appreciate it."

She continued her questioning, discovering that he lived not three doors down from where they stood. He knew not why he was attacked, and he was just out to go to the clinic for a check up.

"Never attacked like this?" Was one of her last questions.

"I see them around sometimes, never attacked anyone before now." He looks to the body of the one in charge, it was still breathing slightly. Luc asked if he could see him, and she nodded.

Luc pulled off its disguise, it was a young chiselled man with short blonde hair.

"No…what?" Luc whispers in the smallest of voices, but A heard him well, but didn't ask him about it.

"Go home Luc." she said. "Get some rest."

Luc nodded and got up from the ground. "Thank you again, Miss A2."

She gives him a confused side glare, he needed no further indication, he moved on to the house he lived in. A2 trailing his back with eyes filled with slight amusement.

-XXX-

Luc climbed the front stairs at his front door, the boards underneath creaked with old age, he protrudes his keys from his jacket and opened the door, not hesitating to lock it behind him. He found himself soon in his bed, the house sighed as its only occupant closed his eyes for the long night.

But today was only the beginning of what the world had in store for him.

 **A/N: -XXX- is a POV swap/time jump, or just a switch to general 3** **rd** **POV for one or more characters. It isn't always just one, sometimes it's all three.**


	2. Chapter 2

Luc awoke with a gasp, short on breath, begging for air. After a moment, a breath of life passes through him. The dark dingy house blocks out the rays of light. His unset alarm read it to be nearly ten. Groggily, Luc stumbles out to the main hall, hoping to fill his long lost appetite.

A blinking light, small but noticeable, brings him over to the unread message left on the phone. No longer worried about the clinic, he replays the message, a masculine voice, belonging to a friend of his, talks to him directly.

"Luc?...You there? Well listen, we are all at the diner, can you get here like, now? Wanna catch up with ya. I'll see you there, hopefully. Bye." A final beep signals the end, and the red light goes still.

Wondering when exactly 'now' is. The phone reads the message was left almost a half hour ago, hoping not to be too late, a quick clean up and a change of attire, was in order. Before he left, a quick scan of the daily paper was in order, the paper headlines read out to him, no mention of yesterdays attack, probably for the best, the last thing he needs is unwanted attention. Not wanting to waste anymore time, he sets off back down towards the clinics direction, leaving townside behind him.

Throwing caution to the wind, he backtracks to the scene of attack, not a speck of blood was seen, the dark alley had the look of innocence, as if yesterday was just a dream. But he knew it couldn't be, he felt terrible, and the bruises had been all too real. Not wanting to linger, he moves on, down to the diner, passing unusual amounts of troopers, perhaps as precaution from the attack, or a way of keeping the public in check, or both.

Not a few minutes later, he arrives outside the diner, the only one he and his friends ever go to, it had pink and blue neon lights, blinding his eyes. It's name, scribbled in the ADVENT language of Brakaz. He can make out the word 'diner' but he hadn't been able to read Brakaz properly, but could hold a sentence if he tried. Unlike his friend on the phone, who hadn't bothered with such trifles.

Heading inside, on the far end of the not so busy room, a group of familiar people were huddled at a table. They didn't spy him until he was halfway over, he was greeted with a warm welcome, not so common in here anymore.

"Glad you could make it, bed badger." The one who left him the message retorts, scratching his short dark curly hair, with a smug look on his face.

Luc snorts, not angry at Kurt's constant amusing attitude towards everything. "How are we?" Luc says, taking a seat next to Kurt.

Across from him is James and Indira, both sharing European accents, James' tanned skin matches his amber eyes. And Indira brushes her thick as wax hair away, giving him a small smile. They all knew each other from long ago, back just after the war had ended.

"Fine." James blandly replies, whilst Indira nods instead. "How goes the job Luc?" Kurt questions.

"Not for me anymore, ADVENT closed the place down, health and safety reasons." Luc clarifies, to which Kurt nods respectfully. "Thought that would've been the one for you man." Kurt solemnly says.

"Yeah, thanks for the good word in anyway, seems ADVENT can ruin just about anything nowadays." Luc, with a slight drop in his tone says.

Indira peaks up at this. "You got that right, not like back in the day, not as heavily monitored as now, can get away with anything." The disgust in her voice is evident.

"Bad enough a new language takes over, now troopers patrol everywhere." James comments, clearly not bothering to learn the new language.

"Not to mention our homes are now next to aliens, living in our city, breathing our air, a waste, all of them." Indira spits.

'Maybe not all' Luc thinks, but wisely does not voice it. "Couldn't have put it better myself." Luc replies, trying to fit in with the hateful theme of the table.

Since he arrived a bit late, Luc orders some food, the juicy ADVENT brekkie burger, melts in his mouth. "They do make good food though" He says in between bites, the taste of the food, drawing him in.

After some small talk about how Kurt could never be the man his mother was, Kurt and James abruptly leave, until only Indira and Luc remain.

"…And then he kills himself, and the painting changes to his old self. Because he was a youth for so long, get it?" Says Luc for the umpteenth time, trying to explain a book they had read long ago.

"Nope, still can't figure it out." She replies with a sly smile and they share a laugh. A moment passes when Luc decides he "Better hit the road." But Indira catches his arm as he stands.

"Wait, I have a…proposition for you." She almost whispers, only for him to hear. Even though the diner is empty.

"I didn't know you felt this way." Luc boldly states. Indira responds with a stone cold glare. "Okay, okay, what is it?" He sits back down.

"A new umm…'occupation' I think would suit you." She stands as soon as he sits back down, he quickly follows her outside. Out behind the diner, a more dense part of town, with twirling ten story buildings all packed together like vultures on a corpse.

She lead him slightly deeper into the twisting alleys nearby, almost hard to keep track of which way is which, first left, then right, than back again and forward. "Where are we…" He begins, but she hushes him quickly as she scans the area, before proceeding down to the left.

"Why are you…" But again, a quick glare silences him. "Well can you tell me if it pays well cause…" But a quick slap to the face shuts him up. "Shut. Up." She says, pausing her words for emphasis. Luc rubs his sore face and nods. After a few moments they end up in a dead end.

A dark door conceals itself into the corner of the dead end, which he had not noticed before. Indira walks up to it, with Luc in tow. She knocks a series of knocks, almost in code, and an eye slot opens, revealing two beady eyes. She whispers something he couldn't quite catch, something like "..gilo, Confido" and the door clicks its locks and opens to a dark hallway, with only the end being lit by torches.

"Inside." Indira waves him in. They pass the door man, and he blends into the stone walls behind him, deciding not to stare, Luc follows onwards. The twisted dark caverns of the sewers is all he sees for minutes. He had just about enough before Indira breaks the everlasting silence. "We are here."

As she turns a corner, she walks to a few dozen figures wearing large coats, with pistols donning their chests, hoods and beanies atop their heads. As she talks to them, Luc scans around, men and women with pistols shoot dummies, the source of the cracking, from the silenced weapons, training for a fight. Deciding not wanting to linger he speaks up to Indira.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but could you please explain to me what the hell is going on here? Pretty please?" Luc says, slightly annoyed at what he's gotten himself into. Or what Indira has gotten him into.

Turning from the group, Indira smiles a rare smile, so rare its almost creepy. "Luc, welcome to the resistance." Gesturing behind her. "These people have lost all they ever had to the aliens, we fight for all humans, and will restore Earth back into its rightful place as the home world of humanity." Some people behind her cheer in support.

"So you want me to join I gather?" He asks. She replies with a nod. "Ok, I gotta ask, why me?" Luc asks, though he didn't have the best opinion about himself, he knew he was not a resistance fighter.

"We need more people like you, all of us here are dead men walking, cant show our faces in public, and we need people accepted in ADVENT, so as to infiltrate and gather information." Indira's eyes bore into his own. A spy? How dare she assume he'd do this willingly?

"No. No what are you thinking?" She goes wide eyed at this. "I'm not doing anything of the sort! I'd be killed, and I'm not some guerrilla fighter, nor a spy! Besides I wouldn't be fit for it anyway." He pauses to think of some excuses, but Indira interrupts him.

"And why not, you have ADVENT ID, no criminal record and you can speak and read what they write and say."

"You know it's not that hard to read Brakaz, you just have to…" but that only helps Indira's point.

"See? You're a natural at it, and even if that doesn't convince you, what about you being a goody two shoes ADVENT citizen?" She says, slightly annoyed, as are the other rebels around her.

"What about, Kurt and James? They are better off than me." But as Luc states it, both of them appear behind her, right on cue, arms folded, with Kurt holding in a laugh.

"What about your father? What would he say to your cowardice?" Indira says, and this makes Luc freeze. His father? "What about him?" He asks. This causes most of the room to go quiet at this, Indira grabs a data pad from another rebel, and taps away for a few minutes, then hands it to him.

A paused video of a bald man stares back at him, he recognises him, his father, with no hair, but with a giant body made of steel, only his head remains of his flesh, giant holes tore his robotic body in half, he stands in a large cargo room, with dead humans and alien figures behind him, he hits play.

"My son, I won't be coming home, I know I promised you this but…" The video goes static for a moment before resuming back again. "…I know I'm asking a lot of you from this…" Static once again as his father's body changes position and to a look from determination to sadness. "…Continue the fight…for me….I know they won't find you…..You've got fight in you…just like your m…won't let the aliens….Good bye." The ending of the message corrupts, and the video goes blank.

His father, fighting aliens? No. He wasn't. Luc couldn't comprehend that his innocent farther, was a machine. Behind him shows dead alien figures, and a giant rifle. He had been fighting this whole time, never to come home.

"Your father was part of XCOM, the aliens murdered him, they never told you that didn't they? He died defending humanity so we can fight another day, and he wanted you to help." She tells him, taking the pad from him.

"We need you Luc, XCOM needs you." She waits for his response.

"Where, did you get this." He asks, curiously. She answers. "We hacked the ADVENT archives here years ago, this was a part of what they had on the old XCOM. Apparently they never found this man's son, but he is your father no?" She inquires. True, plain as day it was his father, his voice and face, but how could he be a giant machine?

After a minute of thinking, Luc's mind is made up.

"What do you need me to do?" He finally asks

"First, some training is in order. Follow me," And as he does so, she gives one final remark.

"Luc, welcome to the resistance." Followed by a chant from everyone "Vigilo Confido!"

-XXX-

A2 had her head on her desk, a stack of paper towered over her. The human in charge, Samuel, had last night's scene covered up so much to keep the peace, and she was ordered to question anyone and everyone about the group of attackers, only to have dead answers and no leads. The one who lived, had been taken away, somewhere, and she had poured over anything she could find, only to come to terms with a failed case. But failure was not an option.

There was only one lead left, and that was the victim, he had acted oddly to the hooded man, perhaps he knows his family or where he lived. Wanting to get some information, she takes the path back down to his home.

She hisses in disgust, she had been waiting most afternoon for his arrival, and the burning sun didn't help either, but later on he finally turns down the corner, coming towards her. Appearing exhausted, perhaps he had been attacked again.

Luc notices the alien waiting up near his house. Must have been quick to find out about his little 'meeting' with the local rebels, Well, at least he tried, he tells himself, not a day in and you've been caught already. He stops in front of her, out of breath from the running in the boiling sewers, he thought being a spy didn't involve that much running, but he went with it though. Not to mention at least some gunplay.

"Luc." A2 says. Luc tries to keep his cool.

"Uh, hey again, A2, how's it going?" Keeping his voice level.

"Need to talk to you." Not even bothering with his slightly worried voice.

"Well sure, not about the attack is it?" A sound of hope in his voice

"Yes. You know one of them." She states, knowing full well if his next words are lies.

"Well… yeah, yes I did. Can we sit down first?" he asks, motioning to the steps, she nods in answer and he sits down, catching his breath.

She matches is seat as best she can, coiling her tail more, to meet his level.

"He, told me to go to the clinic." He says sadly. "Was my friend , but I swear I don't know why he'd send me and attack me afterwards." He says in a troubled voice, looking down at the pavement.

"Name?" She asks.

"Kenny, used to be quite friendly to me." He says, confusing her even more.

"Do humans often betray their friends this way." She bitterly asks, not knowing a single friendly human she has encountered.

"Only guy I know that's done this. Not a human fan?" He asks, noting her sour tone at the mention of humans.

She shakes her head. "Yeah, we can be like that, it's in our nature, mostly. Though you can't always judge the many on the basis of a few." He states. She knows this to be true.

"Yes, it's hard when all races judge you." She says, noting the amount of hatred her kind gets from not just humans.

"Your kind too?" He asks, with a questioning look. Always believing humans are the lowest, and the rest of the aliens accepting each other.

She nods once again. "But we are getting off topic, you know this 'Kenny', where does he live?" Needing to get this solved as soon as possible.

"I couldn't tell you that, never told me, I can ask around for you, I know a few people who might have something for you." He says.

"I appreciate your help, Luc." She nods again, perhaps a human asking questions would get more answers than her (Being an alien) doing it instead.

"No problem A2, how will I get back to you if I have something?" Noting that his new found friends would likely know if an alien comes to his home every so often. Someplace discreet…

She thinks about a suitable place, but can't think of one. Until Luc speaks up. "There's an alien friendly pub, behind the clinic, the 'Murky Muton'. You know it?"

She dint know what a 'pub' was, but she has seen 'Murky Muton' before, she nods.

"Meet me there, around seven if you have anything for me, please." She asks, and he agrees with a smile. She thanks him and heads back to the HQ. Leaving Luc behind. Not believing a human could be so helpful.

'Oh god' Luc thinks to himself 'I'm digging my own grave here' before heading inside for some well needed rest.

-XXX-

A small buzzing startled his deep slumber, an opportunity was ringing his phone. "Your late, get back here." The all too familiar voice called to him.

"You kidding me? It's not even six!" Half yelling as he sits up slightly, staring at the early morning rays of light, peeking in through the windows.

"You chose to help us out." She replies, matter of factly.

"Not like I had a choice…" He mumbles back without thinking.

"What was that?" She asks. "Nothing!" he gets into a more excited tone, and soon leaves to the winding alleys she had led him through before.

The winding path twists and turns, until he once again found himself at the hidden rebel door. He knocks four times, then three more, and the beady man spies him yet again.

"Vigilo Confido." He gives the password. "Your late." It replies in a croaky voice, opening the door, then vanishing into the shadows once more. Luc makes his way back to the hideout. And to the war room.

Luc finds himself around a large table, which has a number of figures around it, one such figure is Indira, as well as Kurt and James nearby. He stands near them.

Indira nods to Luc. "Glad you can make it, now we can begin." She unfolds a map, revealing the ground layout of the clinic.

"So, our goal is simple, we need this." She gestures to the clinic. "Gone." She simply states, getting Luc wide eyed at that. "We will do this in stages, we need all patrols inside and out monitored and recorded, as well as information in the deeper parts of the building, as well as the 'removal' of the whoever is in charge, then finally we strike whilst they are licking their wounds."

She looks towards Luc, as well as Kurt."You two will infiltrate the clinic, grab any evidence of what they really are doing in there, take photos and videos of the inner layout, so we can find any weaknesses, as well as knowing what we are getting into." She turns to James and a few others. "Monitor the outer patrols, and we will mark them down, and warn these two of any trouble." They nod in agreement. "We will commence in a few hours, get whatever you need and get to your positions, Kurt, Luc, follow me." She walks off to the back of the room, where the weapons and armour are stashed.

A whole arsenal, from snipers to pistols, line the walls, a truly menacing force. Indira goes for a rifle, but moves and grabs a blade instead and hands it to Luc. He examines the blade for a moment, as sharp as a tigers tooth, and as deadly as snakes venom. "And if someone pulls a gun on me?" he bitterly replies, not at all liking this idea of having a knife in a potential gunfight.

"You showed some skill yesterday, use your wits, don't get caught." She snaps back at him. "They fold, pistols are too big." She demonstrates by folding the almost meter long blade into a smaller than a quarter of its original size, then places it in a large overcoat, and gives it to Luc. "Easy to conceal eh? Now, I need to get back, don't be in there for longer than you have to, ask Kurt if you have any questions." She begins to walk off, but he catches her arm this time.

"Why are we doing this?" He asks her, she cryptically responds "For humanity." And turns to leave.

"Man, don't you listen Luc, were gonna find out what they're doing in there, then blow it up." Kurt slyly says behind him.

"That's not the only reason" Luc says, knowing full well she is clearly hiding something.

With that, he turns back to Kurt, who wears an almost similar coat, but with a pair of sunglasses to boot. Luc scowls at him with a hint of amusement. "Must I ask?" He says.

He hands him some slightly brighter sunglasses. "These are how we record and shoot photos, anything important, we film." He says while showing him two hidden buttons that activate the cameras. "Come on, let's get into position." And without delay, he heads out. 'No going back after this' is Luc's last thoughts, before turning to follow.

Both Luc and Kurt await outside the clinics main entrance, trying to act inconspicuous, as much as over coated people could. Currently passing the time for the go ahead.

"I think us both wearing glasses is the most stupidest disguise. Not to mention these massive coats." Luc says slightly annoyed. The fact that Kurt had a fake arm sling and a had himself bruised so his face would puff up, didn't look convincing enough for Luc, despite protesting against it.

"You need to lighten up man." Kurt responds adjusting his earpiece.

"Lighten up? Don't tell me to lighten up, I don't do this for a living like you." Luc says, fully aware Kurt has been at this for some time.

"Not for a living…" But Kurt was interrupted by a voice on the comms.

"Ok L and K, your all clear, make it count." A quick voice states before leaving as fast as it came.

"Alright, 'Claus' let's get this over with." Using Kurt's fake name, they make for the main lobby. The all too familiar clinic welcomed Luc with open arms. They pass to the counter, which had only two others waiting, the receptionist, not familiar to Luc, waves them over.

"What can I do for you?" He dully asks.

"Hi, I'm Luc, this is my friend Claus." He waves to Kurt, who looks like he's about to throw up. He hands him his ID. "He's incredibly sick, he got stung by a hornet, just look at him!" Kurt pretends to feel pain at the mention of the hornet.

"Oh my…Ok I'll get you a room." He quickly takes out a microphone and calls for nurses. Hopefully not the one Luc has seen before.

He eventually is escorted into the deeper parts of the building, with Luc recording as they go. When Luc asked where they would take him, they replied with 'Gene Therapy' the only way of safely removing the venom, pure lies, no one ever dies from it, no need for alien manipulation from a bug bite.

The clear white corridors are filled with small beds, some with patients undergoing chip placements, as Luc has seen in the photos. But never leaving Kurt's side, being sure his friend doesn't end up with one in him.

But as they get further in, the walls become more grey then the usual pristine colour of white, and the walls look armoured in some places, not to mention the presence of blue uniformed guards along the way. They stop outside a particular room. As Kurt is taken inside the room, Luc can see a similar looking gene bed from before, with a chip ready to go. But the guard outside stops him.

"Only patients and doctors sir, wait out here." Despite Luc's protests, he would not be let in.

Steeling his courage, he reaches in his coat, and runs the guard through with his hidden blade, the guard coughs, unable to comprehend what has occurred, and falls limp onto Luc's shoulder. Luc holds the guard, and carries him into the room, where Kurt is currently strangling the doctor while the nurse tries to pry him off with a series of clipboard whacks.

A connection between his sword hilt and the nurses heads, is all it took for the silence to return.

"Wow, you really ran him through." Kurt says, not in his usual happy tone.

"Let's…just get to it ok? Luc says, and which Kurt doesn't comment any further.

They had now dressed like doctors using the knocked out staff, though they were tight fits, they should hold up their disguise for a while.

As they leave, with their newly acquired ID's, they lock the three staff in the room. As well as the coats so they can come back for them later.

"Now, let's get scouting" Kurt says, making sure his glasses are on record.

They had wandered the halls freely, not so much as a second glance at the two doctors looking at everything they can. The buildings layout had been recorded on a map on a wall, but they had come across a heavily armoured door with matching black walls that could probably block explosives. The door accepted one of the doctors ID's and allowed them in.

On the inside, pods had outlined the outer walls. Filled with green water, the pods were around gene therapy beds. And on these beds, where people, with biochips being slowly inserted into their heads. On closer inspection, they are indeed the same chips as the one that Luc was offered. The people inside the pods and beds are all asleep, unknown to the horrible state they are in.

A curse escapes Kurt's mouth. "They're, alive." He says, looking at the vitals shown nearby the beds.

Luc had taken a closer look at the pods, some were missing limbs, others parts of their torso's, none of them were normal, but they all had the same message written in the pods surface.

" _Biochip installed: Awaiting Transportation"_

Luc's heart skipped a beat, he was close to being like this, because of his sickness, this fate is probably worse than death. He turns back to Kurt, not wanting to linger any longer.

"Let's go." He quickly says, heading to the door.

"Wait up." Kurt interjects. "Maybe we can find out where it is they are going." He says, scanning the pods.

"Kurt!" Luc points behind him, two ADVENT troopers had been coming up to them from down the hall. Kurt didn't need anymore convincing, as he and Luc bolted out the door and made a run back to the entrance.

They could hear the gibbering language of the yelling troopers. They made haste back to the room with the unconscious staff, and the dead guard, locking as many doors on the way there as possible.

"Get changed." Luc whispers, closing the door.

"What about…" But Luc had already slammed the door locked again, removed his glasses and awaited outside the door, clipboard out front, as if he'd been waiting. Not a moment later, the troopers came running towards him. He stayed content, not paying much mind. They stopped in front of him, guns at the ready.

" **Hel bati botal?** " One trooper slurs at him. Awaiting a response. Luc lets out a breath.

" **Mora tel zanran.** " He replies, motioning down the hall.

" **Tor laba…Hendalro.** " The trooper then leads the other down the whole Luc motioned. After they are out of eyesight, he lets out a held in breath.

Luc enters back into the room. "What did you say to em?" Kurt asks, tossing him his coat.

"They ran that way. And they bought it." Luc sighs, thanking ADVENTS stupidity.

"You see? We need you, and you proved that to me, and to all of us." Clapping him on the back. Luc doesn't respond, instead he quickly dons his coat, and quickly leaves the clinic for good, not daring ever to go back as a patient ever again.

From that point on, Luc would never again be blinded by ADVENT's rays of lies.


	3. Chapter 3

As all the rebels observe what had been found inside the clinic, apart from the occasional whisper between each other, no one interrupted the video feeds that they had been watching.

At the front of the group, Indira had her arms folded, disgusted at the mutilated bodies inside the pods. Once the feed ended with the intense conversation between the troopers and Luc, she cut the feed, leaving the rebels in an eerie silence. Until she broke it a moment later.

"I'd like everyone to thank our newest members for their outstanding performance, you both managed to pull this off without alerting the whole clinic, and we thank you." Many others join her in a small round of applause, with Kurt bowing before them. She shakes her head at this.

"I will call our next attack plan soon, your all dismissed." Says Indira, turning back to a small monitor beside her. Kurt nudges Luc's shoulder

"Want to get some target practice?" Kurt asks, clearly not in the least worried about what he had seen.

"You go ahead, I need some answers" Luc replies. Kurt nods, and walks off with James to the armoury.

Indira notices him approaching, without taking her eyes off the screen, she asks. "What do you need?"

"I need to know why you want a whole clinic destroyed, if your answer is to get us all hunted and killed at an incredibly fast rate, then you're doing a fine job at it." He suppresses his bitterness.

"You don't need to know these things, what matters is that you get the job done, and we all don't end up in that clinic." She harshly replies.

"You dragged me into this, I know you know that this one clinic can't stop them forever, there are hundreds of the same clinics in this country alone! They will just rebuild them, your fight is useless. And you know it." He mocked. He knew her cause was somewhat just, but the cost is to great.

A moment passes where Indira looks to the monitor for a moment, before sighing and looking back at him.

"If I tell you, you have to promise to never again question my orders, and to stop being so…negative." She almost mocks him. He nods in reply, glad he can get some answers.

"Good, now." She motions to the paused video, stopped on the one of the green pods, she whispers so only he could hear her.

"XCOM lives, Luc. They were lead by the greatest leader they could get, but this 'Commander' had been captured, and one of XCOM's new leaders contacted me long ago, as he tracked the Commander to this very city. I showed him the video, but they were not what he was looking for."

"They need as big a window as they can, for ADVENT to be as distracted as possible in order for an extraction." She finishes.

"And the clinics destruction is perfect." He finishes for her.

"And not just that, the HQ as well, drawing any forces away from wherever they hide the Commander." She says. "These two targets will ensure that they are as confused as they can be. Exactly what XCOM needs."

He nods in understanding. "I need to get some rest, I've had enough of clinics for a lifetime." He turns to leave, but not after a quick word of warning from Indira. "This conversation, doesn't leave us, you get me?" He nods, thanks her, and turns to leave the sewers. But not before turning back to her once more.

"You know anyone by the name of 'Kenny'?" He inquires.

She looks back at him. "Yeah, why?" She asks.

"He's a friend of mine, he borrowed something of mine, I really need it back." He lies.

"Is it that important huh?" She asks, he responds with a small nod.

"Well, there's only one Kenny we've been able to find, lives on 13 Burch Street. Quite paranoid guy, not surprised he didn't tell you where he lives." She tells him, turning back to the monitor.

"Thanks, I'll come back round tomorrow, at six?" He asks.

"Five." She corrects him without turning. Luc turns to leave the sewers. Needing to get to an important meeting very soon.

-XXX-

Outside the Murky Muton, A pink figure stares as Luc approaches the main doors, though he looked too much like a human, its head was bigger, and its pink flesh and dark eyes clearly told him to keep his distance. But Luc couldn't help but notice a strange tugging on his mind as he got nearer and nearer. In almost response to this unusual feeling, the alien turns and stares into his soul. Not wanting to cause trouble, he waves at the alien creature. The alien looks to its own hand, and mimics the gesture back to him. An amusing sight, but now ignoring the alien, Luc heads inside.

Inside, A2 awaits at a small table in the corner, not ordering any food, she looks to the opened door, noticing a familiar human approaching. She nods in greeting.

"Hey, sorry I'm late." He says, taking a seat opposite her.

"No problem, what did you find out?" She asks, straight to the point

"Found out that he's a paranoid man who lives on Burch street." He states.

She thanks him for his kindness, which is unusual to her, she decides to ask. "Why are you doing this? Why help me?" He looks to her.

"Well, I guess I'm grateful to you, and you looked like you needed the info." He states, remembering her desperation to get something on Kenny. She doesn't reply.

"Besides, what are friends for?" He remarks. He gets a quick glare from her. A friend?

"We are not friends." She states.

"And why not?"

"We know nothing of each other."

"That can be arranged."

She goes silent.

"How about we start now?"

"Go ahead." She says, folding her arms.

"Well." He pauses. "Before we start, I'm not going to keep calling you 'A2'." He says.

"Why not?" She asks.

"Already said, it's a designation, not so much a name." He goes silent after that, thinking hard. She keeps quiet, and a few moments later, he looks up.

"Okay, how about this…Ana?" He says, looking to her for her answer.

Ana? She thinks for a moment, clearly its more comforting than one letter and number, at least to him it is, but it's better than nothing.

"Sounds good." She replies, receiving a smile from Luc.

"Ok Ana, does your species always get designated like you?" Luc asks.

"Only the lower members, clones have none, elder Angelko's have proper titles." She answered.

"Angelko?" He questions.

"My species." Ana explains

"I see, but what about you though? Your scale colours are..unique, I only ever see yellow uh…Angelko's." Luc says.

"You would be referring to the clones, only older or non cloned members have different colours like me." She answers. "I'm not cloned myself, but I'm not important enough to have a title."

She explains how the hierarchy of the Angelko's works. From the farther and Mother, to the Kings and Queens, and finally servants then clones.

Before anymore could be said, a waiter approaches, pen and paper in hand.

"You ever try human food?" Luc asks her, she responds with the shake of her head. Luc gets an idea.

"Your best human and Angelko dishes." He states, the waiter leaves for a minute. Ana watches him curiously, clearly up to something.

The waiter returns with some sort of dish Ana couldn't recognise, and another of her kinds nutrient meals. The waiter hands them over accordingly, and leaves.

Luc takes Ana's dish, replacing it with his own. "Now you can." He picks up a piece of 'meat' that looks somewhat like squid, but as orange as Ana's scales.

"Go ahead, it's nice." Ana taunts, content with seeing the reaction, not sure what would happen.

He raise it slowly to his mouth, and chews a small piece off. Not a moment after, he starts to choke on the foul taste. Running out of breath, going red with each missed breath.

Ana all the while, was making small hisses at him unable to stop.

He manages to swallow it, before drinking a jug of water afterwards. Rinsing the taste of the rubbery meat.

"Stop laughing, I coulda died!" Noticing Ana doing her kinds equivalent of a 'laugh'.

But she couldn't let up. "You…looked like…a 'tomato'." She hisses out, still unable to stop. Soon Luc calms down, clearly not as happy as she was, but soon let up, and joined in with a chuckle or two.

Eventually she comes to a halt, she eventually took notice of the time. "I must go now. Thank you for this…'pub' talk." She stands to leave.

"Wait up, you need a hand with Kenny's house?" He asks. She thinks for a moment.

"No sense in going alone." She says, and motions for him to follow. Luc quickly pays on the way out. They leave heading for Burch street.

-XXX-

On the outskirts of townside. Where buildings are almost a hundred meters apart, nature didn't pity whether the houses were old or new, as it consumed almost anything nearby the surrounding forest. Luc stopped outside a peculiar house, almost untouched by natures hands, as if it had been under constant repair, even though Kenny, the apparent owner, had been taken.

But what was most intriguing was the small amount of yellow blood stains, painting the front porch. Ana closed the distance, and had notice a dead sentinel trooper, lying in the tall grass, staring lifelessly at the night sky.

"What the…" But Luc didn't finish, as Ana turned, she saw him spying a trooper, lying against the doorway. Despite not bringing any weapons, Ana picks up a loaded rifle off the dead sentinel, which is unusually full of ammo, and proceeds inside, with Luc right behind her.

Immediately in the doorway, a stairway lead the way to the upper level. Two doors opened the way to a kitchen area, the other to a large dining area.

"Wait here." She orders Luc, despite objections, he watches the doorway.

She enters the kitchen, stoves and ovens were at the ready, emitting the smell of cooked meat, filling her nostrils. Another body, litters the floor, an ADVENT Sergeant, gapes in her direction. She slithers silently passed, the only sound of the humming of the kitchen stove. In the next room was a fireplace, created by a projector obviously, it lined the far wall, but a small symbol imbedded itself onto the fire. She sneaks over, daring not to make a sound. She examines the symbol closer, it resembles a human eye, surrounded by a six sided shape, with a lone star below it. She scans the room, chairs align themselves around the fake fire, as if a meeting had just taken place.

To see if anyone was around, she closes her eyes, hearing any and all around her, the sound of breathing comes from the front door, followed by footsteps, two sets. She looks towards the entry, to see Luc, with someone at his back, holding a weapon to his head. She raises her rifle.

"Our new found friends intrude our home." The man states, his face hidden behind an orange bandana. He walks into the kitchen doorway.

"Have you come to murder our family, haven't you killed enough of us?" His dream like voice, taints the air. He tightens his hold of Luc's neck.

On the corner of her eyes. Two more figures turn the corner, one on the left, one behind Luc, both holding rifles.

"We will not harm you, we give you a chance to redeem yourselves, drop it. And you will live." His cold dead eyes pierce her own.

Without warning, Luc head butts the man holding him, and rushes him into the doorway, giving Ana a clear shot at the one behind them. She took the shot, and no sooner had her target fallen, did two more take his place, moving to the dining area. She dives quickly behind a table, flipping it with her tail.

Luc struggled against his holder, fighting for the gun, but the man's inhumane strength overpowered him, pinning him down. He draws a knife, and plunges it towards his chest, quickly, it is caught by Luc. Holding him at bay. This gave Ana a clear sight to Luc's attacker, and he met a similar end to the first. Chucking the body off him, Luc scrambles back to the kitchen, grabbing the fallen pistol as he goes.

Seeing two almost identical men behind the same cover, Ana flings poison from her fangs over towards them. Intense hacking followed suit, as their lungs filled up with her deadly venom. The last man had fired upon Luc, who managed to return fire and take him down using his pistol. The last man gasped for breath, until only silence remained.

Getting up, Luc makes his way to Ana, examining the poisonous cloud nearby. "You alright?" He asks, she nods her head. But a small gasping from the supposed leader, interrupts them. She makes her way over to him. He clutches his neck in obvious pain

"Who are you?" She angrily demands. Her face inches from his.

"You…will never defeat…the Exalted…will remain." He says in between dying breaths. But she had not noticed he held a small syringe to his neck. He falls limp, ceasing his breathing.

Ana holds up the syringe. "Poison." She simply states. She turns to Luc, who had dropped his pistol.

"Go Luc. I'm calling for help, you should not be here." She says, pointing to the door.

He pauses for a moment, knowing she's right. "Ok, be careful Ana. I'll see you around" He says before running off down the road, heading straight for home, leaving the bloodied house behind.

Ana questions herself, how had Luc learned to handle himself in that situation, he did not handle himself earlier. She would have to ask him later. She called it in, using a fallen troopers radio, and awaited for ADVENT to arrive.

Hoping Luc had gotten away in time, it took only a few minutes for forces to arrive, only she did not expect so many vehicles, the lead car opened to reveal her commanding officer, Samuel. Who had assigned her to this case in the first place. A plain human, with crinkled skin that vaguely resembles the troopers backing him, he flicks his black hair behind him as he approaches her.

"Get this mess cleaned up." He motions the guards forward. He then looks to Ana.

"You! How could you let my men be killed? Why not call us here earlier?!" He shouts

"They were dead when I got here." She simply states. He throws his hands out.

"Useless, none of you aliens can do anything right. Did you at least get any information before you butchered the place?" He demands.

She told him of how the attackers had been identical, and calling themselves 'Exalted'. But she left out her friend in the details, just as a precaution.

Samuel peaks up at the sound of 'Exalted'. "At least you got something…I am relieving you of this case, you have done well. WE get this cleaned up, thank you for finding out who they are" He turns back to his car. Ana, stops him.

"But sir! This is not over, there are more! You must hunt them all down! " She pleads. He turns back to her, his face turning to one of anger. "Just because your little 'Mother' protects you, doesn't mean you can question my authority, I can handle this, now go back to HQ and leave this to the professionals, which I should have done before, not some murdering snake!" He screams, leaving her and entering the bloody building.

She holds back at snapping his neck, and treks the long walk back to HQ.

-XXX-

Luc had spent the next day training and honing his skills as if he was to run a marathon. As well as some swordplay and silenced weapon firing. But after a small run around the rebel hideout, he had fallen short on breath all of a sudden and started coughing like a dog. Small drops of blood, stained his hand that covered his mouth. He blamed it on the amount of running he had done, and had walked his way back to the hideout.

He went to a handmade sink and started to wash his blood away, when James had come up next to him.

"What happened man?" Looking towards the blood.

"Hey? Oh just cut myself with me own blade before." Luc replies, faking a laugh.

"I never seen such a natural with these blades, how could you cut yourself?" James questions.

"We all have bad times." Luc replies, not looking at him.

James shrugs, "Anyway, Indira's calling a meeting again. Just us, come on." He motions to follow, Luc quickly dries his hands and follows suit. Back to the table with the clinics map, where Kurt and Indira are the only ones awaiting. Indira doesn't waste time when they all gather around.

"For our next move, our target is the current manager of the clinics security, he has a large house nearby the local ADVENT legion garrison. A small team that can get in and out, such as you three, can avoid too much trouble. He is meeting with the ADVENT commander today, take them both out and we will cripple ADVENT's organisation. Take the sewers north to mineside, use them to get in and out quickly." She hands Kurt a map of the sewers. "After they are dead, we will strike in two days." She finishes

"Unification day?" James asks.

"Yes, the celebrations will keep the already crippled ADVENT forces busy, and we will move in and strike." She answers.

"Sounds like a plan, let's go guys." Kurt says, already halfway to the armoury.

All three grab some light Kevlar vests, strapping it to their chests. James grabs a sniper rifle, Kurt takes an SMG, while Luc grabs a shotgun, as well as a blade. To disguise themselves, they donned black hoods with matching ski masks. Adjusting their commlinks before hand.

They follow the map out towards the north, to mineside. Half the city used to be home to all the mines and factories, and the other half (townside) home to all residents, but over the years, ADVENT took over the industrial areas as suitable occupation areas, removing the ore mines and factories. Although this improved the air quality, many had lost their sources of income. And much of the military moved people away.

On the way Luc decided to ask about the 'Exalted' group he had encountered.

"Are you guys the only fighters in this city?" He asks, checking all corners with his shotgun.

"Yeah, why do you ask?" James replies, holding his pistol at the ready, his sniper on his back.

"I saw a friend being attacked by these people, all wearing business suits and bandanas." He truthfully says, at least not the whole truth.

"I haven't seen anyone like, I'm sure Indira woulda told us if they were a threat, but we are the only ones fighting around here, as far as I know." Kurt says, not looking up from his map.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Luc finishes, If they could be so open to attack aliens and himself, how could the local resistance not know about them?

"This is it." Kurt says, staring up at a hatch above them. Kurt is the first to start the climb of the ladder. Luc looks around, noticing something he had just glazed over this whole time.

"How come these tunnels aren't full of crap?" He asks out loud, to no one in particular.

"Well It's because…" James stops, clearly not knowing the answer. "…well, I don't know."

"Maybe ADVENT moved it all somewhere else?" Kurt says, nearing the surface.

"Weird…" Luc says, thinking that not knowing may be for the best.

"Clear!" Kurt half whispers, peaking above ground level. Forgetting the sewers, they all follow above ground, and into a nearby empty warehouse. They climb to the top floor, giving a vantage point over a large airfield, and opposite the warehouse, was an official looking white building.

And trudging on this airfield, was thousands of troopers, ranging from black to white, as well as blue and orange coloured soldiers, marching around dozens of small ADVENT gunships, hidden from the hot sun in small hangers.

"Which one is our guy meeting in?" James asks, staring in awe at the sheer number of troopers down below.

"The white one, right there." Kurt points to the white building, with wide windows with two guards on the three closest sides.

"Good spot, wide windows, don't even need your guys to help." James remarks, but at that moment. A car pulls up, and the most alien looking human steps out, wearing many medals across his chest, and a hat that could be mistaken for an admirals.

"That's the commander, James!" Kurt says. James quickly adjusts his sniper, as he does this, the white building door opens, revealing a fat slob of a man, wearing a uniform matching the buildings brightness.

"That's the manager." Kurt confirms. The commander greats the manager, and they enter the building, and stop in front of the window.

"Now James, clear shot!" Kurt informs. James sets up his rifle, but as he does so, the manager hits a button on the desk, and the windows go as dark as a cellar.

"Guess we are doing this the hard way." Luc says, pumping his shotgun.

"I can cover you from here, but you must move fast, we can't deal with this many ADVENT." James replies. Now staring back at the airfield.

"Alright 'Sherlock', come on, let's get going." Kurt says, as he and Luc make their way down to street level. A few workers in the distance stare at them for a moment, but quickly leave. They get as close as they can to the road.

"Cross the street on my mark." James says over the comms. After a few moments they hear "Go." And they both dash over into a small equipment nearby, providing good cover.

"I'll check the back." Luc says, running around the back side, avoiding the guards gazes, he sees no back door in sight. "No back entrance, we go through the front." He says, moving back to Kurt.

"I count six guards around the building, and four out here at the front." Informs James.

"Luc, target the ones around the building, I'll deal with the ones out front. Ready James? We go on your shot." Kurt plans, readying his rifle.

"3" Luc aims is shotgun.

"2" Kurt brings his rifle to bear.

"1" A sniper shot, followed with the fall of a guard, signals the attack.

Two quick blasts of a shotgun, down two additional troopers. Not a single trooper lifted there rifle before four had fallen to Kurt, the last trooper had ran inside the building. Luc and Kurt quickly follow suit, stacking either side of the doors.

The remaining trooper smashed the window, and fired at Kurt, hitting his back. Luc quickly runs in and shot the trooper in the chest, sending him flying into the wall.

"Get the targets, I'm…I'm alright." He groans.

Not wanting the targets to get away, Luc scans the floor, not seeing anything, he heads upstairs. The fat manager, trying to lean over the short window, looking as if he's stuck, curses at Luc.

He brings up his gun, only for it to be hit aside, the commander, having been hidden to his right. Punches Luc, dazing him for a moment, without his shotgun, he draws his blade, and takes a swing.

The commander uses his arm as a shield, his arms must have padding beneath them, as he doesn't make a sound as he continues to block Luc's swings and cuts, and dodges backwards.

"Rebel filth." He spits, unaware that Luc is backing him up to the manager, stuck in the window, his body to fat to fit through.

Luc manages to kick the commander into the manager, sending both of them down the long drop. Looking out the window, the manager softened the fall for the commander. Who had already been sprinting down the alley, Luc readjust his hold on his blade, and throws it to the fat man. Sinking the blade into his back. The commander slipped into an alley, and gets out of sight.

"We gotta go now! Dozens of enemies are coming our way!" James shouts, shooting his rifle.

Luc backtracks downstairs, slinging his fallen shotgun. And heads to Kurt's aid. Kurt curses as he is lifted up, blood soaking part of Luc's jeans. Leaning Kurt on his shoulder, he crosses the street without harm and back to the sewer entrance.

"Come on, let's go!" He yells, overwatching as Kurt gets himself down the ladder. Quickly following when he reached halfway down, keeping his head above the ground, Luc scans for James, spying him running his way.

"Get going, I'll find another way back, I'll lead them away, if they follow you, we are all dead." And before Luc could speak, he slams the sewer grate shut. Covering Luc in darkness. Only the sounds of footfalls and gunshots came from above, oblivious to the sewers below them.

Dropping off the ladder, he and Kurt make the long walk back to base, with one less team member among them.


	4. Chapter 4

No sooner had Indira spotted the blood soaked form of Kurt, she had ran like a bullet towards him, calling for the medic as she goes, she and Luc lay him face down onto a nearby table, with Luc swiping the table clear of the neatly stacked papers that some poor soul must have spent hours sorting.

Across the crowd, a new figure passes through towards the centre, brushing by Luc as she goes. Her thin figure had a noticeable speed as she examines the wound. Blood had been pouring over and staining Kurt's lower back, had he not been wearing Kevlar, Luc would have come back alone. Carefully examining the wound, small but noticeable, a small glint of white could be seen.

"How bad is it man?" Kurt whispers for Luc to hear. Luc squats down to meet Kurt. His eyes tell him he is almost about to slip out of consciousness, his face wore a constant dazed expression.

"I can almost see your bones." He replies, perhaps a bit too honestly.

Kurt lets out a deep sigh, clearly in deep pain, but keeps a straight face. The medic begins tending to the wound. Not wanting to potentially throw up, Luc looks away, deciding to bring some comfort to his wounded friend.

"Maybe if you hadn't had such a fat ass, perhaps they would have missed you." Luc says, immediately bringing a small smile to Kurt's face, followed by a small chuckle, then a groan.

"Don't make me laugh, it hurts when I do." Kurt replies, closing his eyes.

As if on cue, Indira looks around, then back to Luc, a stern stare tells him what she will ask.

"Where is James?" She asks, and he hesitates for a moment.

"Is he dead?" She asks, in a slightly lower voice, her brown figure gaining a slight slouch.

"I..I don't know, he ran off, to buy us time." Luc mumbles, getting a worried but angry look from Indira.

"If they have him…Everyone pack up, we are moving!" Indira yells to the gathering crowd, they respond with confused looks. "Now!" She cries, and everyone begins moving, scurrying like rats, packing everything into containers and bags alike. Luc chases after her, who had moved to the meeting room, he sees her, packing the map away. He grabs her shoulder, stopping her briefly.

"Where are we going…" But she interrupts him, slamming the map into his hands. "Pack all this up, and follow me!" she says whilst folding up additional papers of Intel, chucking a bag towards him.

Outside a familiar diner, Luc watches the streets like a hawk, scanning anyone passing by. Every few minutes, someone would walk by holding crates or bags, or sometimes both, these carriers were heading inside the diner. Keeping his vigilant overwatch steady, he spots one trooper walking down the street, clearly alerted to the large amount of carriers passing by for the past five minutes. Luc, hidden in the shadow of the wall, raises his commlink.

"One troop, to the north." He recalls. A moment later, Indira replies.

"Almost done, five left, buy them some time."

He steps out of the shadows, holding a data pad, although turned off, he pretends to motion the carriers into the diner, looking as business like as possible.

Having heard the trooper right behind him, he turns, and nods in greeting, which the trooper curtly returns. It talks in a high pitch. Although its rifle was lowered, it didn't stop Luc's slight nervousness.

" **As dal mor del?** " it motions to the ones carrying bags. Luc takes a deep breath before responding.

" **Linderio.** " He replies, nodding to the diner. Pretending to check his black data pad when a third bag carrier passes.

" **Fob a din fertu?** " Luc asks while smiling. But the trooper doesn't return it, but frowns instead.

" **Ja yil..dolan.** " The trooper, clearly angry, scowls and returns back down the street.

Being slightly embarrassed, Luc follows the fifth and final carrier into the diner, Indira talks to the owner, passing a large bag to him, who stores it below the counter before nodding. Luc leans against the counter, next to Indira.

"Hard at work?" He says, she frowns in reply. "Why are you so red?" She asks, having noticed his fading blush. "Did the mean trooper man give you a warning?" She smirks.

"Well…I may have called 'her' a 'he'." He almost whispers, receiving a laugh from Indira.

"Not exactly a ladies' man are you?" She scoffs. "You haven't changed a bit."

"Where are the rest?" Luc asks, avoiding her statement, clearly in annoyance.

"This is everyone, a few other safe houses in the city have the rest of the resistance. I know the owner, he won't compromise us." She replies. "I'll relay attack plans to the other safe houses. Ask the owner for me tomorrow. We will have a strike plan by then."

"Is there any word on James?" Luc asks.

"No word on anything from up there." She replies sadly. "Don't worry, he can take care of himself."

"I hope he can." Luc says, turning to leave.

"Don't go anywhere near the ADVENT HQ." Indira warns. "Were gonna make a few aliens 'disappear' and blow up a monument or two." She laughs.

He thanks her for the warning, and leaves into the afternoon gaze of the sun. On the horizon, the tips of the distant mountains reach out and almost connect with the suns edge. He heads down back to his home, passing by an unusual sight. A large MEC stood nearby a scanning security tower. The tower itself was similar to a lamp post, but had a more elegant and alien material. Its rays of red cross over the walkway that Luc stood upon. The MEC had turned its white visor in his direction, holding an oversized rifle to its side. It was twice his size, and had an unusually large back, probably just its power core, Luc thinks.

Not wanting to cause suspicion from the MEC and its deathly gaze, he strides into the scanners field. The scanner does not react, as if he had never even passed underneath. The MEC still stared at him, not letting its gaze to leave Luc's face, even when he had passed the MEC and passed swiftly into his house.

Obviously his attempt on the ADVENT commanders life had taken its toll, or maybe it was the tighter security for the coming Unification Day celebrations. Regardless, it was still an unforgiving sight.

As he climbs his porch, a small glint under the doorway steels his gaze. Curiously, he reaches for it, and the thing crimples in his fingers, he slides the paper out, and turns it over, a small message reads…

 _Meet me back at the pub._

And not wanting to piss off a deadly alien, he retraces his steps back to the pub. Now on the opposite side of the MEC and its security tower. This didn't stop the MEC from continuing to stare at him once again, not daring to look away. Keeping his cool, Luc ignores it as best he can. And not until he turns the corner away from the MEC did he finally relax, and slow his pace.

-XXX-

Ana had been surprised that Luc had not been home, and even further surprised at how late he had been when he finally showed up. Now no longer on duty, she had made her way to his home, expecting him to be inside, or fighting in an alleyway somewhere being kicked to death again. But she had faith, and it payed off when he finally entered the pub. She had sat, or in her case, coiled, at a table near the door. She waves him over when he enters.

"Long day?" She asks him.

"You don't know the half of it." He replies, taking a seat, pouring some water from a glass jug, which had been sitting on the table.

"What happened after I left?" He questions, while sipping on the water.

"My commander." She spits. "Put me away like some tool, not wanting me to get in the way…I wish I could just." She clenches her hands. Not needing to finish.

"I know what that's like." Luc states, followed by a smile. Ana almost does the same, before thinking out loud.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

She could swear a look of panic passed over him, before he quickly composed himself. "A figure of speech." He says, she keeps staring in confusion. "An illiterate term." She doesn't blink. "I didn't mean it." She finally nods in understanding.

"I want to find the rest of these 'Exalted'. I know it's a threat to everyone, but this idiotic commander neglects anything I find, he's covered up your attack, and now this." She hisses in disgust.

"Might be some gentlemen's club, I didn't see any females among them. Just a bunch of grey men." Luc jokingly comments, Ana hisses "Men.." In response.

"Yep, you got that right, though not everyone is like that." She questioningly looks right at him. "You said that about humans in general." She recalls

"Yeah well, I may have been wrong, but..Ok fine, but surely this isn't just a human problem is it?"

"You humans have it so easy." She states, somewhat annoyed. Luc, being the curious human he is, continues with,

"Are there any males? Your kind I mean, I don't see many around." Luc hadn't exactly 'travelled' or actually went out of his way to find out, but he was curious none the less.

"Very few, they are dying…we are dying. The Elders help, but only delay." She coldly replies.

Luc goes quiet for a moment. "I'm sorry to hear that." He says, almost face palming at his stupidity. 'Guess I'm not a ladies' man after all' he thinks to himself.

"How exactly are you dying?" He asks. "You seem fine to me." Noting how she looks perfectly healthy, at least on the outside.

"Its…complicated." She says. "Genetics, confidential. Couldn't tell you if I knew." Although she knew that her species had such a lower population than long ago, she didn't know the cause.

"Well, now you sound like a friend of mine. But I won't ask of it no more." He says. She thanks him for his respect. She herself had been dying to know, quite literally and figuratively.

"My Queen works relentlessly to find a cure, we all contribute to her wellbeing, and I've failed her, because of some stupid human that cant command a legion if his life depended on it." She sadly hisses, dreading her Queens reaction to her failure.

"You shouldn't beat yourself up about it." He says, trying to comfort her.

"My Queen had assigned me to this, and I failed her. She won't take this lightly." She ever so slightly drops her head.

"You did better than just sitting by like your commander does, you got this far, that's more than anyone he or anyone else can say." He finishes with a smile, which she returns.

"I'm sure this city doesn't have what you're looking for, but perhaps one day, you will find it, and I hope you do. Wouldn't want to lose a kind person like you, earth needs more people like you." Luc continues, giving Ana some questionable thoughts. 'Kind? No. I'm a murdering snake. What is a snake anyway?' she pushes these thoughts away. And refocuses on Luc.

"Now, let's order something, and I want human food this time, no offense, but your food tastes vile." He calls over the waiter.

"You handled yourself well back at the Exalted house. You fired weapons before?" Ana asks.

In record time, two meals find themselves on the table, but neither touch them just yet. Luc looks up.

"Well, it comes naturally, you know? Just point and shoot." He replies. But Ana couldn't help but notice he was lying. The fast blink of his eyes, the slightly faster breathing, and the quick movement of his eyes told her so.

"So, how long you been in New Isa Ana?" Luc questions, and she thinks for a moment, not about her answer, but about how he could shoot a gun so naturally, and kill a target without hesitation. She may not know, but this human continues to become even more mysterious.

But no matter how much she asked, he would always avoid an answer or change topics, after half an hour of subtly questioning him, and him continuing to dodge her questions, she decides to drop it. And eat what Luc calls, 'Fish and Chips' until it was time to leave.

-XXX-

Now having paid and had stood outside in the cold night air. They exchange goodbyes, and part ways. But not before Luc remembers something crucial a few minutes later, and runs back to Ana, full speed into her direction, he had been over a hundred meters away, Ana had heard heavy footfalls behind her, and turned just in time for him to crash right into her, she manages to balance herself, but Luc wasn't so fortunate, as he crashes into the ground, she may have helped him in meeting the ground, but she didn't apologise.

"What are you doing you idiot?!" She hisses, clearly angry.

"Don't-Go-To-Your-Head quarters." He wheezes in between words.

"Why?" She folds her arms in annoyance.

After a few moments, he stands himself up, adjusting his collar, as if he hadn't just bolted into her.

"It's too dangerous, people are..talking, they want you." He points at her. "And any other aliens, dead.. tonight."

"Whose attacking? Those Exalted?" She questions.

"No, different people, fighters, rebels, the resistance." He sighs. "Please, just trust me on this, they want you dead. I've seen them, you have to believe me." He pleads.

Ana studies him, no traces of lying could be seen, but that didn't stop her doubts. 'Rebels? There are no rebels. No one left to fight the Elders.' But the fact that the first human to ever plead to her is doing it for her sake, only further conflicts her mind.

"If you're sure?" She asks, he rapidly nods in reply, She sighs a moment later. "Alright, this better not be some 'joke' or you will pay dearly. But I need to get back, it's my home'." She says. Luc waits a moment before responding.

"Just avoid the monuments." He gestures to the road leading directly back to the HQ, a monument can just be seen in the distance. "And…just be careful, please." Luc once again pleads. Ana nods, and turns away, heading in a new direction. Leaving a grateful Luc behind.

Ana had taken a path to the east of the HQ, turning in and around alleyways in between cramped skyscrapers, to a more alien based district. This district had more aliens in comparison to humans obviously. Small buildings filled with many different species occupied the large buildings. The HQ alone couldn't survive without the support from the buildings she passed by, MEC's were displaying their superiority outside many of the building entrances. And every now and then, ADVENT hover drones would pass her by, not giving her any attention, as they continue to scan every other building. Almost as if searching for something, but Ana couldn't be sure. They needed all the support for the coming Unification day.

After passing a third block filled with workshops, she changed her route so her eyes faced west, continuing on directly back to home. Slithering towards the beacon of ADVENT's presence. She had wondered if she had just wasted another hour on a humans word of caution. No, Luc's word of caution. Only a fool would trick an Angelko like herself. She wondered why she even remotely believed him in the first place. She had been told that the resistance had no place on earth anymore, they gave up the fight so many years ago. Perhaps they are on the rise again? She knew it wouldn't please the Elders if they found out, but she couldn't help but be excited, perhaps she would get to see some combat, after all these years. That is, of course, if Luc told the truth.

But a small explosion had interrupted her thoughts. On her left, a large fire peaked over the buildings a few hundred meters away, even though she hadn't any weapons, she proceeded full speed in that direction.

She had closed the distance rapidly. Only one last large building was blocking her path. Using her powerful tail muscles, she began scaling the wall, digging her claws slightly into the wall, and keeping her momentum up using her tail, she soon found herself atop the building's roof. She slithered across the roof towards the far side. But stopped when she noticed a figure, lying atop a small box near the edge, looking towards the flames. She slithered with deadly silence, behind the prone figure, she could hear a gruff voice as she closed the distance.

"Hell, it's a sight for sore eyes I tell ya.." The prone man whispers. Ana had noticed he held a long rifle, he had it aimed down below. She followed the rifles length, to see a devastating sight.

An Elder monument, the one Luc had told her to avoid, had been set aflame. Its two right arms were nowhere to be seen, and the other set were burning, smoke had clouded the sky, and two figures had been sat at the base of the monument.

"Just leave it, it looks good." The gruffly man spoke once again. Oblivious to Ana's presence. She had had enough and went for the man's throat. When the two figures below had thrown some small objects up at the monument, which was followed by two more explosions. Ana stopped and peered closer at the two figures, they held some small grenades and were continuing to chuck more and more at the monument.

"Don't waste em'…Can't wait to see the look on the aliens faces when.." But he hadn't finished, as Ana had crushed his throat with her own bare hands. After a few moments of struggle and a pitiful attempt to scream, he falls limp, Ana catching his rifle before it dropped.

She brought the rifle up, and observed the figures through the scope. The heavy rifle was no different from standard issue magnetic weapons, she aimed the crosshairs in line with the left figures head, who had one hand about to throw another grenade, until Ana pulled the trigger. The figure dropped in mid swing, and dropped the grenade at its feet. The second figure had been quick to react and dived away and behind a car, presumably the one they had used. She took a few more shots at the car, not landing any hits so far, but keeping it pinned down.

A few minutes later, a group of ADVENT, coming from the building underneath her, opened fire upon the rebel. These were led by a Muton, who wore black plated armour, who had charged the rebel in a terrifying frenzy. The rebel hadn't acted until the Muton had jumped upon the car, and brought a large handheld knife down upon the rebel. The Muton, satisfied with its kill, turned and looked up to Ana, who had lowered her rifle. The Muton did a salute, to which she returned, before another explosion had been seen up the street towards the HQ. The Muton wasted no time and had its forces running in to fight. Ana dropped her rifle, and looked the opposite direction, barely able to see the shape of the pub in the distance, she thanked the gods for Luc's warning, as at this angle, the sniper would have surely killed her if she had came that way.

Not wasting any more time, she jumped off the roof, absorbing the impact effortlessly with her tail. And made her way toward the HQ, at an inhumanly fast pace.

-XXX-

She barged straight into the front doors of the HQ, the guards not even asking why she was in such a hurry. The interior lobby had several different hallways leading to several different directions. The grey walls had lines of red lights on every side. She follows the left hallway and takes the stairs to the next level up. She was greeted with one large hallway spanning the entire length of the building. With sets of doors every half dozen meters apart. She takes the third door on her right, passing by many of her kinds clones and some other servants, who payed her no mind. Next to her door, was a guard, who saluted her as she opened the door. Once inside, Ana locked the door, and switched the lights on while doing so.

On the far wall was a large blank monitor, with a small screen below it. The left side had a small mattress and desks lined with her own personal artefacts, and the right side had her own work desk, which had been painted with papers and pads from her 'former' case she was investigating. She slides over to the monitor, and fiddles with the smaller screen for a moment, before coiling down and bowing her head. After a few long minutes, a figure appeared on the large monitor. Speaking in her own language, Ana is the first to speak.

"My Queen, I have some dire news." Ana starts, not looking up from the ground.

"No, not you as well…" An authoritive feminine voice pierces Ana's room, in the same language as her.

"I'm sorry, but you told me to warn you if it happens."

A long silence that seemed to drag time ever onward had followed, before her Queen spoke again.

"I had hoped you'd be safe. But then again, all things must end." She softly speaks. She continues with. "Rise my daughter, it is not your fault, Its nothing we can't fix."

Ana slowly rises to her full height, and raises her head to her Queen. Her blue and white scales reflected her beauty to Ana. The monitor had scaled her down, but she knew she was the tallest and strongest of her kind.

"But I can't hide you forever, you must come back to me, one last time." She looks down to Ana, who raises her head to her full height.

"I will send for you, I must see you with my own eyes before you go." She says with a hint of sadness.

"You can't leave, we need you with us." Ana almost pleads to her.

"It is not I who will leave, for you will be taken from me. The Elders grow suspicious every second." Her Queen says almost nervously. "But know that I will always be with you, my gift to you, will protect you always." They both look to Ana's table, and Ana moves over to it, staring at her Queens most recent gift. A necklace, with a grey chain, almost hummed in her mind. She picks it up to examine it. An Angelko's face, which looked as if about to strike, fangs bared, with angry piercing eyes, stared back at her, almost as if it was alive.

"It will protect you until you come back to me. Promise me you will come back to me." She pleads, never before had a Queen pleaded to a lowly daughter like her. She breaks the chain and clips it around her neck, tucking it into her frontal armour.

"I will my Queen, I will return." Ana speaks without turning back to her. The Queens image slowly fades away, and the screen goes black once more. Ana slowly turned towards her bed, coiling down to rest for today.

She dreams strange dreams, she sits in a bright sunny field, all matter of humans and aliens pass by. Opposite her, is Luc, smiling contently. Then a shadow looms over from behind him. As it passes over the humans, they grow red eyes, and begin fighting the aliens. When it claws over Luc, he grows purple eyes instead, and reveals a small pistol in his coat, points it at her, and pulls the trigger, she looks behind her and sees dead Elder lying on the ground. The shadow finally covers her, and she joins the fight against the aliens, with Luc by her side.

-XXX-

The following morning, Luc had an early start, making his way back to the diner safe house. Today was unusually busy, the streets were packed with people and aliens alike, a few cars here and there were stuck in traffic. An increased amount of troopers were ushering citizens into different zones, attempting to control the bustling crowds. Also a number of MEC's had patrolled the streets, keeping a constant scan on the people it passes.

Keeping to the sidewalk, eventually finding his way towards the diner. But nearby a familiar figure stopped beside him, the same pink flashy alien he had seen a few days ago. It waves to him in greeting, Luc happily mimics it, receiving a smile from it, at least, what he thinks is a smile. And the alien continues on its way, and Luc does the same. 'At least someone is enjoying themselves' he thinks as he looks back at the alien, to see it waving to anyone it passes. Shaking his head, he moves on.

He arrives at the diner and heads inside, the owner nods to him, and waves him over. No one else was present. Except for an observing alien, peering through the windows at some distance away.

"Indira home?" Luc asks, the owner nods his head behind him, to a door in the corner, Luc thanks him and heads over, Descending the stairs to the cellar, the smell of dried blood had made itself clear the further down he goes.

A wooden door at the bottom, creaks when he opens it. Inside, an improvised war room had been set up. The room was somewhat smaller than the actual diner, so the many rebels were all cramped together with no room to breathe. Luc loses himself in the crowd, searching around for Indira, until he reached the far corner, were a small bed with the sleeping form of Kurt was lying down, and Indira sitting nearby, with a small headset on, and a radio next to her.

While she was talking, Luc leans against the wall. After a while, Kurt started to stir.

"You suck your thumb in your sleep?" Luc lies, getting a worried look from Kurt.

"What? NO! I don't!" he cries, getting a laugh from Luc. Indira looked over, and finished her message a moment later, before turning to them.

"Glad you could make it, I hope you enjoyed your last sleep in your home. You can't go back from tonight onwards." Indira states. Luc answers with a depressed nod. But he knew it was a small price that he must pay.

"At least be glad you had a home." Kurt interrupts Luc's thoughts. In a somewhat jealous manner.

"Come on, let's get these idiots organised, I got the attack plans out to the others, we will discuss them now." Indira looks towards the cramped and confused rebels, crawling over each other.

"Jeez, alright. Ahem, hey guys?" Luc speaks to the crowd, but his voice is drowned out with all the noise.

"Guys? Hey! People!" Luc raises his voice slightly

"EVERYONE SHUT UP!" Indira screamed. Everyone's hands met their ears. Indira had increased the radio's volume, and had her headset on, everyone looked to her, the room was finally silent.

"Gather round the table, and let us through!" Now that the room had calmed, everyone made a path for her, Luc, and the now recovering Kurt.

"Can you do that earlier next time? Maybe with some warning too?" Kurt said, rubbing his head in pain. However Indira couldn't care less, as she barges ahead to the table at the centre of the crowd.

"From being the quiet girl in class, she's become quite the leader hasn't she?" Luc asks.

"I'd never imagine her like this twenty years ago." Kurt replies.

"I know how you would though."

"You have the wrong idea man." Kurt's eyes looked away.

"I seen the way you look at her, she was worried sick about you when you were asleep."

"Really?" he asks.

"No."

"I swear I'm gonna.." But Kurt was cut off by Indira, who motions to the map. This said map had been updated since Luc had last seen it. The interior was more detailed, with multiple arrows inside and out of the clinic, symbolising the patrols in and around the area. With four bright red arrows pointing from the sides.

"Alright everyone, you all worked so hard over the past months, and I know you all want to get out there and take back your homes." A few cheers go up, but Indira keeps control of the crowd.

"And that is exactly what we are gonna do." She waves to the clinic map. "Our cell will focus on the south end of the clinic, straight at the front doors. I will designate three teams, Alpha, Beta and Charlie lead by myself Kurt and Luc respectfully." A few whispers and questioning looks go around the room. "Enough!" She says, silencing everyone again. "I've made my mind up, and we can't back out now." She takes a breath before gazing to the map.

"I've written up who goes on which team." She slaps a number of papers on the table. "Once I'm done, your to get assembled. Now." She claps her hands.

"I will lead Alpha team inside the clinic, Bravo and Charlie will cover our entrance, then flank the clinic's sides. I'll set up X4 charges inside, I'll announce the detonation sequence, when I do, you better get your asses as far away from the clinic as you can. We will all regroup to the west of the city, on the outskirts, if you're not with us then and there. You will be left behind. The other resistance groups will attack the HQ using similar methods. As well in attacking the northern most part of the clinic as well." She looks to Luc and Kurt.

"I'll provide you two the finer details, the rest of you. Sort yourselves out!" She blares.

Whilst the rebels try to get into the designated groups, fighting over the papers with their names. They leave the three squad leaders alone, who fought their way out of the crowd to the steps leading upwards. Luc begins to talk, but Indira cuts him off.

"Now before you even ask. I will not change my mind, and no. I do not have someone else in mind. And no, I don't think you're up for it, but you've proven you can at least handle yourself, however poorly that is. I don't want to hear any of it, you hear me?!"

He slowly looks to Kurt, who stares in amazement, or fear, Luc couldn't tell.

"Just..Ok, what do I need to do?" Luc says, dumbfounded.

"Cover our flank, buy us as much time as possible, so our guest can get what he needs." She replies.

"Guest?" He and Kurt say in unison. She checks her wrist watch. "Ah yes, he should be hear by now. Follow me." She heads back upstairs, with both he and Kurt following.

Up in the diner, they close in on an old man sitting at a far table. Who had a grizzled old face, with small whiskers starting to appear on his face, he looks up at them, and gives them a rundown smile.

"So you guys done screaming down there? Could here you from up here." He says, whilst nodding to Luc, who returns with his own.

"Have to keep the rabble in check" Indira motions to Luc and Kurt. "These are our team leaders, Luc and Kurt." She sits down with him. "Guys, this is Central. The XCOM representative."

They exchange handshakes, and join the table. Central adjusts his sleeves on his green shirt. "You boys know what you're doing? This is very important to me, to every human being out there." He says in an almost fatigued voice. Clearly, he went through a great effort to get here.

"What do you get out of this?" Kurt replies. Central huffs, before responding. "My…Our Commander, the only one who can save us all. I know this. That is what humanity gets out of this."

"And once you get him out?"

"We stop lurking in the shadows, and take back our planet." He coldly replies. "You may be the first to witness XCOM's revival. You're doing a lot for me, and it will be worth it"

Indira speaks up. "He will give us updates on his situation, the more chaos we cause, the more time he gets, we do our thing, he does his." Indira says, to which Central nods in agreement.

She hands out three earpieces, plus one for herself. "Private commlinks." She states. Luc pockets the device, as the others do the same.

"If there's nothing else?" She finishes, but Luc asks one last question. "What happens after you have what you need Central?"

The old man looks at him with tired eyes. "You meet us at the rally point, on the outskirts, we will pick you all up for extraction, we have enough room."

"Very good." Indira says. "We should all get some rest, and I'll go over our plans again for you two." She gets up from the table. As Luc follows suit, something catches his mind, forcing him to unwillingly look outside, and there, across the street, stands Ana. Who stares right back at him, Luc quickly calls to Indira.

"Just need some fresh air, can I take five?" He asks, Indira responds with a nod, before heading down into the basement, followed by Kurt, and a glaring Central. Avoiding his gaze, Luc walks outside. Ana had already made her way over, and began talking.

"Luc, why.."

"Shhhhhh…" He interrupts, and goes to the corner of the diner. Ana in tow. He quickly pushes her on the other side of the corner. And leans on the wall, eyes front. She tries to move back in front of him. But he stops her.

"No! I can't be seen talking to you, just keep it low profile, pretend you're not talking to me, I haven't got a lot of time." He quickly says, not looking at her while he speaks.

"Ok..How did you know the rebels would strike? And what exactly they were targeting as well?" She asks.

"Look Ana, I haven't been straight with you for some time now." He begins

"Clearly." She brashly replies.

"Well, Ana, I'm..I'm part of the resistance." He says, ashamed.

Her eyes go wide, she should have known, but when he had been attacked, she would never have guessed he would be part of the resistance.

"How long have you been part of them?" She asks.

"Shortly after we first met, I…"

"Why Luc? I thought of you as a friend, and you been a terrorist this whole time?"

"Please, let me explain. I beg you." He pleads. To which she stays silent, giving him a chance to speak.

"I was forced, you have to believe me, they got me into their ranks, forced me to work for them."

"Why stay with them for so long?" She interrupts. "Why not come and report them to ADVENT, or to me?" She asks.

"I learned some terrible things about the clinic, they mutilate the patients, the ones with biochips, stick them in pods for shipping. I almost became one!" He cries.

"How?" She says, not looking away from him.

He sighs before answering. "You're not the only one dying, Ana, I have a similar fate." She goes wide eyed at that.

"Before I met you, I was in the clinic, I have a terrible disease no human deserves, I won't live for long…"

"How long?"

"…Around five years." He callously says. It takes a moment before she quickly thinks of something.

"I..Luc, just…just come with me, we can fix this, I know I can. ADVENT won't hurt you. I..I'll get the Elders to personally see to you. Don't believe in the resistances lies!" She beseeches.

"They are not lies if I have seen them with my own eyes." She did not respond to this. Instead closing her eyes.

"I'm sorry Ana, I believe you when you say you can fix this, but…what I have seen, the people in the clinic…I can't go back. Not anymore."

"Please. You will be killed within a week! And I can't bear the thought of that." She pleads once more. But Luc had made up his mind. He turns to her, and rests his hand on her shoulder. And they lock eyes. He studies her sad but beautiful face, now seeing her in a brand new light.

He smiles for a moment before continuing. "You've been a great friend to me. More than anyone else in this forsaken city. The resistance would look down on me for calling you a friend, but I know your better than anyone I ever know. I trust you Ana. But this time, trust me on this."

She couldn't think straight, he had been so convinced that ADVENT was not what it seemed, but she had never seen these, 'pods' that had people in them. Only that the sick and old had been treated, not processed.

"I'll find a way to fix you Luc. If what you say is true then…" But she didn't finish, as she fell silent to her own thoughts.

"Maybe someday you will see it yourself, or I can prove it to you. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but one day. I guarantee it."

Ana was speechless, she had not left his gaze, and hers never faltered. He let go of her shoulder. He starts to head back to the diner, but turns and says.

"I wish there was some other way Ana, I'm sorry." He turns back and disappears inside once again. Leaving Ana on the busy street. She hadn't realised she had felt so alone after that point. She looks down to the ground.

"As am I." She says to herself. Slithering back whence she came.


	5. Chapter 5

The day of Unification had arrived in New Isa, the streets were swamped with humans coming and going from district to district. It was late afternoon, the setting sun still warmed the stale air, and a few stars had started to develop in the dark skies. Luc glances through his ACOG on his assault rifle, though it had been an old world rifle, it still packed a heavy punch. He had been perched on top of a small grey building, which was next door to the clinic. He was watching over the main doors, several ADVENT guards and two MEC's were keeping the large crowd in check, making sure that any trouble was quickly put down, the streets were orderly, and cold. An unnumbered amount of people waited in line outside the clinic.

Movement near the alleys drags his attention, right across the street, was a dozen people hidden in the murky alleyways. Up above them, two more people, holding rifles. Leaned over the rooftops edges. Aiming directly into the crowd, fingers on triggers.

"Alpha team, in position." A feminine voice calls out to his earpiece. Luc looks back over his shoulder, a small number of his own team were replicating his stance. He had the rest of his team down below, covering the flanks of his assigned snipers. He had over fifteen people in his team, all ready to bring the fight to the enemy, regardless of who leads them. They made their displeasure of his leadership quite clear before they had moved out.

" _We follow you because Indira ordered us to, that's all there is to it. I just hope you know what you're doing."_

" _I do, and I understand your hesitance, let's just get this done."_

 _The rebel woman turns back to the group, muttering to each other, Luc could guess they weren't happy, but they had to deal with it._

 _Central walks up to him from behind, he now wore a dark brown jacket, with fingerless combat gloves._

" _First time leading?" He asks him. Luc nods._

" _Starting can be daunting, but you get used to it." He pauses before continuing. "So Indira tells me you were a civilian? What's it like?"_

" _Almost perfect. That was until I learned…"_

He brings himself back to the present. He had to have his head in the game now. They had worked effortlessly to get to where they are now. They had gone over the plans a thousand times. Now was not the time for reflection.

Doing one final check of his vest, he had enough ammo for a good while, he had less armour on to keep his mobility up, but enough to provide a bit of protection. Luc casts is eyes to the far side of the clinic, he could see a dark figure, moving in the shadows, but it was gone a moment later. He shakes his head.

"Bravo here, we're good to go." The joyful voice of Kurt pipes in.

"Charlie is ready." Luc whispers in response.

"Copy that guys, wait one." Indira replies, and goes silent for a minute. Before speaking up again.

"Central, all cells are good to go. What's your status?"

Centrals aged voice soon responds. "We are standing by. Lots of activity over here."

"Don't worry, that's all about to change. All teams, engage on my mark." She falls silent. As does everything in that moment, all rebels bring their weapons to the ready, safeties were off, and all went tense for the next few moments. Luc exhales as he aims at a nearby troopers head, ready to start the offensive.

"Mark."

At that moment, all hell that had been bottled up, had broke loose. All the rage and anger that all the men and women had against ADVENT had been let loose, he could even hear some of his nearby team screaming and cursing at their targets. The attack between the three teams against the frontal forces was decimating. The MEC's took positions in front of the main doors, while the troopers scattered and tried to get inside the clinic's lobby. But out of the twenty or so that tried to run, only half had made it to cover and avoided the initial bullet barrage.

But as Luc picked his targets, he couldn't help but notice the collateral damage caused by the resistances animosity. A few men and women who had only come to meet someone to help them, met death instead. Although most of the civilians scattered away from the fire fight, some had instead lied down, waiting for it all to end, some were covering their children with their own bodies. Luc clears his head and gets back into the fight. He burst fires into the nearest MEC, damaging it severely. It turns in response to his attack, and strangely lowers it rifle. Curious, Luc takes a few more precious seconds to keep examining the MEC's unusual behaviour. It lowers its body slightly, and three projectiles exit its back, raising high into the air, and come straight at him.

"Off!" He cries, jumping off the roof and down to street level, even though its wasn't a high building, his legs still felt some pain on impact. His two snipers tried to do the same, but one wasn't so lucky, as the explosions detonate the roof, his body goes limp, hanging over the roofs edge. Luc observes Alphas position. Indira and a handful of rebels had charged headfirst to the main doors, killing anything in their path. Indira had duel wielded her rifle along with an ADVENT MAG rifle. As she kills off the last MEC, she and her team proceed guns blazing inside the lobby.

"Your attack is working, enemy's are already leaving the target location, keep it up!" Central says.

"Copy that, we are gonna go set up the charges now, Bravo, Charlie. Give us time." Indira replies.

"Way ahead of you!" Kurt yells. Followed by a "Will do." From Luc.

"Gather round the doors! Don't let anyone through!" Luc orders his team, who begin stacking up positions, guns aimed to the streets.

"We will take the rooftops." Kurt says. And to the right side of the clinic, is Kurt accompanied by a bunch of snipers. And behind him, more gunfire can be heard at the HQ, Luc prays that Ana isn't inside, as he reloads his rifle. Ready for whatever ADVENT has in store for them.

-XXX-

As Indira ran through the clinic's halls, many young and old people ran past them, heads bowed, arms raised, but she paid them no mind. She had to get to the central point of the building, where an explosion in the right place can destroy the whole building in one go. ADVENT guards had already pushed tables and cabinets into the hallways, providing full cover for their forces, and Leaving Indira's team to hug the walls and doorways.

She unpinned a small grenade at her side, and threw it onto the enemy cover, the explosion gave her clear sight into the enemies positions, as it knocked them back and destroyed their cover. She and the others made quick work of them, and proceeded down the hallways uninterrupted.

As Indira walked the halls straight to the central point, she dropped to one knee. Glancing around a corner, she spies a large room with a thick central pillar, painted with ADVENT symbols. But a small enclave inside the pillar had attracted her attention. Inside it was a turret, and it had already aimed and chipped off some of her cover, alerting the number of troops in the room.

She orders everyone into the room, covering there advance with her SMG. She could spot a Muton within the enemies ranks, thick green armour and a small respirator device donned its face. It was accompanying at least eight ADVENT troops, plus the turret. Her team had begun hunkering behind anything they could find. Some of them didn't make it into cover, as a few bullets passed by and took a few rebels down.

Now outnumbered, Indira opened fire upon the muton who had kept its distance. Emptying half a clip in its direction. But its heavy armour had absorbed most of the fire, only making it angry. It returns fire back at her, a green beam splits the wall she hides behind, forcing her to move.

She could have turned back, or went left or right, but instead, she ran straight towards the Muton, hugging the left wall until diving behind a small plant pot. She sprays the rest of her clip above her cover without looking, then reloading after. She quickly glances at her teams status, though they were untrained guerrilla forces, they were holding their own, managing to destroy the turret and a handful of troopers, leaving only the Muton in her stead, as she lured it away from the group, making it her only target. But keeping the rest of the troopers distracted was coming at a heavy price, she would be alone if she did not act quickly. She must deal with the Muton on her own. She raises her rifle, intent on ending the Mutons tyranny.

-XXX-

Luc and Kurt's teams waited with bated breath. Only the sounds of distant gunfire could be heard. No forces had converged on them, perhaps they went to the HQ instead, or were simply waiting for the right moment. Either way, no one dared to make a move.

"Maybe we just aren't worth it." Kurt suggested. "We took the clinic in a matter of minutes, probably scared them off." Some rebels mumbled in agreement.

"It was almost too easy." Luc says, scanning the road.

"Nah, they just can't handle us." Kurt says. But after a moment, distant booms rocked the ground beneath them. Coming from behind the buildings with the rooftop snipers. The scouts turned their heads in the opposite direction. The ground shook more violently with every second, whatever it was, it was coming right at them.

"What do you see?" Kurt asks, holding his hand to his earpiece. But they only screamed in response, as a giant mechanical contraption tore though the buildings not a second later, the hole was the size of a large truck, dust poured out of it, obscuring his view. But when it cleared, something large stood up. Its height matched the buildings the snipers were on.

It had dark metal armour, and walked on two giant legs. Upon these legs was a small compartment that had lines of red around its visor. Not a second later, it emitted a large electric field, killing the two snipers on the roofs. It then proceeded to open a small section underneath the compartment, which emitted hundreds of small red lasers in the direction of the doors.

"You were saying?" Luc asks Kurt, joining the others in hailing the giant robot in bullets. But even though everyone had opened fire, nothing seemed to interrupt whatever it was doing, it ignored what little damage the rebels were inflicting.

A few moments later, the giant robot charged itself up, and fired a devastating beam of red death into the lobby, leaving most of it on fire, taking two rebels down that were unfortunate enough to be in the path of the beam. Seeing the robots destruction capability, the rebels scattered. While others had dropped to the ground, trying to avoid its deadly gaze. The rebels rifles couldn't even put a dent in it, no one knew if it was even remotely damaged.

"Keep firing!" Someone shouts. "It can't stay up forever!" But this new voice met a demising end as the robots canons soon opened up on her, before turning its attention to Luc, who quickly hit the floor. Barely dodging its red beam.

-XXX-

Indira and the Muton had been trading fire until she ran out of ammo. She tosses her gun to the side, drawing a small pistol and an unusually large knife. She cocks the gun back and peeks overhead.

The Muton may have had the same problem, as it scowls at her rather than opening fire. But confirming her thoughts, it vaults over the bench it hid behind, and ran full speed towards her. She brings her pistol up, unloading her clip into the charging alien. Almost all her shots hit the target, slowing it down with each it, but it had begun estimating her shots, going left and right, avoiding the final bullets.

It had reached her, its dull rifle had lost its green glow. Before it could react, she thrusts her knife towards its head, but it lifted up its arm in defence, the knife was now lodged into its arm. The Muton had not reacted to this, obviously not in pain. It quickly swings its rifle, with a bayonet attached, towards her own head. She quickly ducked, and it slammed into the nearby wall. She attempts to punch its face, but it merely shrugs it off, and she gets a pained hand from the impact.

The Muton takes another swing, swiping her face with such brutal force. She was momentarily blinded, her vision was covered in red. She feels a sudden force against her stomach, and falls backwards several meters. She hits the ground with a thud.

The Muton walks over, her knife still lodged in its thick armour, and kneels next to her, she almost thinks it gives a small nod to her, before raising its bayonet. She clutches her face, wiping away the blood from her eyes. But she was too late to do anything else, it had punctured her stomach with its blade. A thick red pool painted the floor she lay upon. Her breaths ran short, her body goes numb. She looks at the alien with a deep hatred.

"Satisfied?" She asks after a small breath. The muton in question nods very slowly. Still holding his rifle in her.

She grabs her lodged knife from its arm quickly and cuts the small pipe that connects its face to the respirator on its chest. As the pipe is cut in half, gas seeps out and blankets the floor. The Muton roars, clutching the broken pipe, trying to save itself from suffocation. Its legs weaken, its body tenses, and its eyes go dark, its life slowly seeps away. It finally collapses beside her. Surrounded in a coat of white gas.

"So am I." she says to its corpse.

Indira tries to sit up, but collapses. She glances around the room, her team was nowhere to be seen. She could not see any troopers either, the whole room was silent. Her legs couldn't move and she quickly grew tired. She quickly raises the commlink in desperation.

-XXX-

Luc ducked into the main lobby of the clinic, avoiding the hundreds of bullets that peppered his team. He goes prone behind a small statue that looked like strands of DNA.

The 'Giant death robot' that Kurt had named, had not come alone. Shortly after disposing of most of Bravo teams members, did over twenty troopers swarm into the hole the robot had created. Against such terrible odds, they could not return fire or fall back, they were almost all suppressed by volleys of bullets.

As Luc blind fires across the street, he could hear Kurt speak. "Indira! Not trying to rush you or anything, but we need to leave soon!"

"Now!" Luc corrects.

"I…may need a hand with this." She replies, sounding exhausted.

"You heard her Luc, get in there and help." Kurt says, shooting down at the street, scoring an additional kill.

"Unlike you, I'm trapped on the ground, I can't get into the back with that thing watching over." He replies as the robot shoots multiple beams from its small but powerful upper canon in his general direction.

It takes a few seconds before Kurt speaks up again. "Alright, we can't kill this thing, but I can draw it away, maybe some grenades can get its attention!"

And with that, Kurt and everyone else on the roofs was ordered to bombard the robot with everything they had left. Although the explosions didn't do much physical harm to it. It focused more on destroying the rooftops, and the people on them.

"Bravo team! Let's get this thing away!" Kurt yells while standing up, leading his team further away from the clinic. "Good luck Luc, I'll see you at the evac!" And the next moment, he's disappeared out of sight, with the robot and a few troopers in pursuit.

Although they were still heavily outnumbered, the suppression on them had slightly been lifted. And the few rebels had managed to take down pairs of troopers. Luc slowly crawls on all fours to the back of the lobby, were Indira had disappeared into. Bullets were flying over him, he dared not lift himself any further, lest he meet a swift end.

He makes it to the back of the lobby without incident, he claws around the corner before sitting up. He looks back at the main doors, what little of his team was left was coming to a quick end, with one rebel falling every few seconds. He turned down the hallway, trying tell himself that those who were left were dead men walking, but it didn't help him, he abandoned his own team when they needed all the help they could get. He pushes these thoughts to the back of his mind, trying to block out the gunshots and screams behind him.

He follows the trail of death that Indira had left behind. Troopers and rebels had littered the floors. This trail led him to a large central room. It looked like the last stand of ADVENT, as plenty of the walls were soaked in orange gooey blood, as well as what looked like most of Indira's team had met there ends in here. He looks around for any signs of her. He stumbles across a large Muton's body near the far wall, said body was lying close to a human, a familiar figure, coughing and wheezing, he rushes to the human, to find the face of Indira covered in blood.

"Hey!" He gets to her side on his knees, a large hole had torn through her body. And her eyes were smeared with blood. "Come on, let's get you out of here." He tries picking her up, only for her to groan in pain, and push him away.

"No, I can't go on." She says as she reaches into her pocket, her blood soaked hands pulled out a small explosive charge.

"Here." She hands it to him, making his own hands red. "Stop them, stop ADVENT. Keep the resistance alive." She presses another object to him, a small detonator.

"Indira…let's get out before they find us, you can make it, you'll be fine." Luc glances at the doorway, the gun fighting is almost gone now. Luc places the charge on the wall, and goes to grab her again, but she stops him.

"No..I will only slow you down in my state. Just get out before it's too late."

"What the hell are you thinking? " Luc shouts at her. "We can make it to the evac, we have to try." But Luc knew she was right, they wouldn't make it far, and clearly, she was not going to live long. And the roaming robot and the dozens of troopers would track him down if he waltzed through the city in this state.

"You won't make it to the evac alone. But there's a place, far to the west...A den, filled with fighters like us." She takes a quick breath. "It's out there, I know it is…I have been there, they will help you. Take up the fight Luc. Tell them what you've seen here. Tell them that they have hope, tell them…XCOM lives once more. Head to the outskirts, its closer than the evac, you have a better chance getting there than to the evac."

Luc goes quite. Not looking at her. He thinks of the hot plains that lie outside the city. "I will die in the desert, I will lose my way."

"I know you will find it…you have to. it's the only place you can go. I…" She coughs up some blood. "I never got to thank you for joining us…without you, XCOM would never have had the chance to live on." She gives a weak smile. "Your father would be proud."

"Proud that I got my friends killed." He says dismally.

"I accepted my death when I joined up long ago, so did Kurt, James..You should've as well." She pause a moment longer. "I'm sorry I dragged you into this Luc, but…People have to know what they are doing to us. We must wake people up, and this is a start, promise me you won't stop fighting them, promise me that what we stopped here today is never forgotten, here." She reaches into her top pocket, and pulls out a small card. "The recordings you filmed are in here, get as many people you can to see this." She hands it to him. "Now go. Quickly!"

He could hear footsteps nearby, the rebels had either given up, or had been killed. "I will, I promise." And with that, he runs the opposite direction, eventually jumping out an open window into the alley of the clinic.

Indira held her hands by her side, and simply waited for ADVENT to come. She could see dozens of MEC's pour in, with many troopers accompanying them. As they pile in, they scan the room, checking all the bodies for any signs of life. Some rebels made small sounds, before the troopers executed them. A MEC approached her, she looks up at the white bot. She smiles devishly, just as a bright light came from the wall nearby. First she saw white, then felt a terrible heat wash over her, then she saw no more.

-XXX-

Luc ran as fast as he could to the other side of the street. He turns back and faces the clinic. He looks down to the detonator, and after a few moments of hesitation, flicks the switch. The blast knocked him off his feet, and he could feel the heat even at this distance. He quickly stands himself up while running away, dropping the detonator as he goes.

The clinic he once came seeking help, had now been destroyed, and he helped do it. He raises his comms one last time, desperate for any help he could get.

"Bravo, you there?"

"Come in please."

"Someone say something!"

"Kurt?! Anyone!"

Having gotten no response, he takes his earpiece off and throws it away. He had to leave, he could not stay. After a minute, he gets up, and crushes the earpiece, before running off.

He had stuck to the shadows for as long as he could, heading west as fast as his feet could take him. He passed the HQ, almost half of it was missing, the other was collapsing, drowned out by flames. Luc could see many rebels had surrendered, arms behind heads, kneeling together and surrounded by troopers. Luc stripped himself of his Kevlar and weapons, and threw them into the alleys, had he not been covered in other peoples blood, he could have passed for a civilian, but the dirt and grime on his face couldn't be wiped off with his bloody hands. His long pants had some small rips and tears, but they were almost unnoticeable, and his shirt was fine.

As he passes by the HQ, civilians and ADVENT alike were lying on the ground, troopers tended to the civilians, small camera crews could already be seen filming the casualties, reporting the attacks to the ADVENT news network. They were distracted enough for Luc to slip by undetected. He decided not to linger any longer than he had to, and continued his way away from the fight.

He later found himself in a small dank alley, someone had left a running water pipe at the back of a building. Running up to it, he soaks his hands and rubs his face. The somewhat clean water had made him look more presentable, and soon the blood and dirt had been washed away. He stops and looks down at himself, and reflects on just how lowly he must look right now, cleaning himself in some backwashed alley. He shakes his head in shame.

But this had been short lived, as a human, accompanied by two troopers, headed into the very same alley he was in. He looked up and around him. If he moved they would see him, if he stayed, they would walk right up to him. He thought he had not been followed. Clearly not.

"There's one!" The human calls out. And the troopers brought up their arms, guns trained on him, ready to detain him. 'This is it' he thought to himself. 'Drenched in a dark alley, what would everyone think of me right now.' He raises his hands above his head, but something caught them, and had placed them behind him, the feeling of cold metal had clasped his hands together. But the troopers were nowhere near him. He looks behind him to the one arresting him. Ana's face had met his eyes. And he almost smiled, but remembered they had company.

" **Sesma vis**." She said in an unrecognisable language. The troopers nodded, and surprisingly left back to the street with the human. Leaving him and Ana alone.

When they were out of sight, she unlocked the cuffs, which irritated his wrists slightly.

"Thanks for that." He says, rubbing his face from the water. Ana examines him, he had certainly become less acceptable by human standards, he stank of death and sweat.

"Follow me since the attack?" He asked, she nodded, remembering his holdout against the ADVENT machine of death. And his exit from the clinics destruction.

"I suppose you want me to turn myself in?" He asks.

"No. After what you did, you will be killed. Had you done so earlier, you may have been spared." She replies.

"I'm sorry." He says, but she shakes her head. "That's not enough, you must leave, never come back..for your sake." She puts the handcuffs on him, and walks out to the street, it was mostly desolate, she may go by unnoticed.

"West, there is a place…" But she stops him, hand covering his mouth.

"I don't wish to know. So I cannot be tempted to reveal you to anyone who might ask." She simply says. "I'll take you to the edge of the city, come on." And she leads him towards the outskirts, anyone passing by would spit, but most would just curse at him. Clearly they didn't appreciate what he and his friends had done. They had walked for who knows how long when a large holo-board had lit up nearby, they both turn to look, a giant ADVENT logo greeted the viewers.

-XXX-

"Peacekeeping forces have already made several pre-emptive arrests of known collaborators." A woman announces in front of an Elder monument. "ADVENT again assures all citizens that today's celebrations will continue as planned." She smiles before the ADVENT logo takes her place, signalling the end of the report.

"Perfect." Central said to himself, moving back into the hustling crowd.

-XXX-

Soon Ana and Luc were on the western cusp of New Isa, a small but noticeable line had cut off Isa from the outside world. One side covered in urban cement, the other was covered in the dusts of the outback. Luc stood upon the border, as if on the edge of a great fall. He glances at the horizon, the mountains loomed over the flat fields of emptiness. Apart from them, nothing could be seen, if there was some place out there, they would be a long way away. Neither he nor Ana knew what lay beyond in the great desert. Luc had spent his life in this city, and Ana knew little about this country altogether.

"I guess this is it then." Luc says, still looking towards the horizon.

"Yeah." She replies. "I guess it is."

He faces her, and she does the same. "I am almost glad I was attacked all those days ago." He says with a smile.

"Why is that?"

"Because I'd never have met you."

"I'm happy to have had the opportunity." She smiles warmly.

"Your too kind to rebel filth like me. I owe you a lot." She looks at him slightly annoyed. "Ok, I owe you everything. Thanks for not turning me in."

She looks deeply into his eyes. Remembering a quote he once recalled to her.

"What are friends for?" She asks, snickering. Luc's smile grows wider at her small laughter, seeing an alien laugh was an unusual but pleasant experience. It reminded him of how they had become more than just 'acquaintances' in their time at the pub. He would never have thought an alien would become so much more to him.

Luc decided to take a risk at that moment, bracing his nerves, he reaches out his hand to hers. Grasping it gently. Ana made no movement, but simply observed the gesture, not knowing the meaning of it, or why he did it. She looked at him dubiously.

"Sorry…I don't know what came over me." He pulls his hand away, but she gently squeezes it before he could let go. His smile returns to him.

"A pleasant feeling."

"Well, I try my best."

Again they look back out to the desert, a great silence had passed over them. Luc could almost forget that he had ever attacked the clinic, and that he would stay here forever if he could. But his smile slowly left his face. Thinking about what would happen out there, in the big bad open world.

"Perhaps we will meet again someday." Her voice had a hidden sadness within it, but she was hopeful anyway.

"I look forward to that day, Ana. Hopefully under better circumstances." He slowly lets go of her hand, her nails slightly scratching his palm as they separate. He gives her one last smile, before looking back to the desert, and taking his first few steps out into it, he didn't want to, not one bit. But Ana's voice stopped him.

"One last thing!" She unclips the small necklace from around her neck, and holds it out to him, who takes it in his hands. "Something to remember me by."

"Ana, you're not exactly someone I will ever forget." He replies, looking to the necklace.

He examines the small face of the Angelko in his palms, it seemed warm to the touch, and its eyes seemed to stare right back at him, almost moving on their own accord. He clips it on his own neck, and it felt unusually heavy on his shoulders, but it soon lightens after a few seconds. 'Weird.' He thinks.

He bows his head slightly to her, she scoffs and punches his arm lightly, and he laughs one last time. She smiles at him, to which he returns it.

"I won't forget you either, Luc."

And at that, he slowly walks back to her. She looks to him, he slowly takes her hands once more. He looks slightly up to her, and he slowly leans forward, she knew not what this new gesture meant, and stayed frozen on the spot. Just before she thinks he will connect his face to hers, he suddenly stops himself. And leans away from her.

"So long, Ana." He slowly lets her arms go.

"Goodbye, Luc."

She turns her back to him one last time, she didn't want him to go. But if he stayed, he would only be killed, and she would be punished for helping him. Something told her that he was more than just her new 'human friend', but something much more, something she hadn't felt ever in her whole life. She couldn't quite describe it, but could take a wild guess. If anyone found out about this, it would make the way her species looks on humans change forever, that much was certain.

She slowly turns away, and slithers back into the streets of New Isa. Luc watches her go until she eventually leaves his sight. He looks upwards, towards the towering skyscrapers, It's almost blinding lights flush out the night. A small gunship could be seen flying alongside the tall buildings, it was no alien ship, it had small tinges of yellow that Luc could just make out. It soon ascends and flies off to the south, becoming a speck in the black sky. He gives one last look at the city, his home, now nothing more but a shell of what he once thought it was. As a few smoke clouds could be seen burning away on the ground.

"I hope it was worth it, 'Commander'."

He sets off into the cold emptiness of the desert. Heading west towards salvation, and he would not stop, however hard it would be, he will endure. He will meet Ana again, and he would keep his promise to Indira, no matter how long it would take.


	6. Act II: Reconcile

Act II: Reconcile

The desert was the apex of all deserts, its flat sands stretched infinitely to the horizon in all directions. The ground was red and featureless, save for the mountains that loomed in the distance, and the grass tufts that poked out of the ground every now and then. He had been following a small dirt track for some time now, he stumbled across it in a small abandoned town. A single rotting sign had dubbed the town 'Barkly'. Its residents had moved on, leaving the desert behind, heading to the city's lights, but unlike them, he was heading the in opposite direction.

He had become dizzy all of a sudden, stropping him momentarily, but after a moment it passed on, just like the ones who used to live in this barren wasteland. He was not in a hurry, but he dared not slow his pace any further, he was starving, thirsty, the sun took all of his energy away. He felt on the brink of collapse, and started his usual coughing fit. The sands soon grew more red around him. Once he took control again, he continued on his way, wiping his mouth with his filthy stained shirt. He told himself that he was fine, that he would make it the den, he must make it, for the ones he left behind.

 _Will you?_

He stuck to the path, vehicle tracks could be seen engraved in the sand. Perhaps this was once a trade route, connecting anything in the lifeless desert to the outside world, but clearly ADVENT's promises made all desert dwellers wonder into the cities grand lights, and the trades were abandoned. He heard nothing but the razor wind tugging at his back, beckoning him to turn back whence he came, but he knew better, he kept going for the rest of the days light, until the moon took away the day.

Through the dark night, he could make out a faint light in the distance, the freezing winds changed, and they pushed him towards it. He limped his way at a faster pace, perhaps someone was there, perhaps he finally made it to the den. When he got closer, he could only see a low hut with no windows, the light source was outside it, and it was moving around out the front of the porch, almost waving him down.

He calls out a wordless greeting before his knees buckle and he collapses. He brings his head up and sees a figure approaching, helping him up and into the hut, he did not resist, he could barely keep his eyes open. Before he could utter a single word, he slipped into a deep slumber. The last thing he could see was the dull interior of the hut.

 _He stood upon the edge of an industrious town, his eyes scan the area, and his eyes locked on to what he was looking for. As he walked forward, a large skeletal hand beckoned him closer, but he was not afraid, he reaches out to the hand. "I'm glad you listened to me, you won't regret it." A dreamy voice says to him. As he takes it, his strength grows."Take it." Are the figures last words before disappearing._

He wakes suddenly, his shoulders were heavy, and his chest burned. He found himself in the small hut. The smell of cooked meat was in the air. Next to him was an elderly man, who stirs a small pot with a crude spoon, he looks at him, his wrinkled eyes stare back. He brushes back is white hair.

"Bad dream?" He asks in a fragile voice. His voice was slightly muffed in his thick matching white beard surrounding his mouth.

"You could say that." The Elderly gentleman lifted the spoon to his mouth, sipping on the stew he had made.

"Want some?" He held out a small bowl filled with the mucky stew.

"Thanks." He takes it into his hands. It tasted like dirt, but he didn't complain, the meat was tough as nails, and the liquid was bitter.

"Thank you." He says after a few gulps.

"Thank the lord, he sent you unto me."

"I wouldn't call myself a holy man."

"That don't matter to me. You a city boy?"

"Yeah." He sits up slightly, facing the old man.

"Didn't think your kind came out here anymore, lest you have a good reason. You from Isa?"

He nods once.

The old man extends his hand out "Red's the name."

He takes his hand. "Luc."

They went back to their stews, Luc had taken six gulps of water at once, and went for seconds on the stew.

"Why are you out here?" He asked the old man. Thanking him for the food and placing his bowl down.

"Don't like cities. What about you boy?"

Luc didn't respond, his face told the old man it was a topic he did not want to discuss.

Luc thought about how long this man had been out here. How he got by, or how he survived the red sands. Had he ever left this lowly hut? There wasn't much inside, aside from the small cot he sat upon.

"I can't pay you for the food."

"Consider it my gift to you. I like the company, keeps me sane."

"Isolation get to you?"

"All the time." Red agreed. "You should go back to your home, lest the desert gets to you as well. If it already hasn't."

"How can it get me?"

"Might not get you here, but the further in you go, the more the whispers start to come, I can hear them from time to time. They taunt me at times, question my existence. I can't stop them. I never did."

Luc ignores his crazy comments. "I'm looking for a den, filled with fighters. You know anything about that?"

"Maybe the whispers know, they know a lot. But I wouldn't recommend it to ya."

Luc checks himself over, he hadn't stolen anything , he still had his small chip, filled with evidence. And his necklace, he only just realised the burning sensation on his chest had came from it, it grew cool at his touch. As if calming down.

"An alien give that to you?" Red noticed his necklace.

"Yeah, shocked?"

Red cocked an eyebrow. "Not at all." He says almost in surprise, as if he was accustomed to alien gifts.

 _Probably his old age._

"You pass by Barkly?" Red suddenly asks.

"Yeah, no one was left, its dead."

"Don't go any further, go back, stay there, it's better than this. Don't make the same mistake again."

"I've made up my mind Red, if these whispers know the way, then I will ask them."

"I wish you good fortune for your stupid decision." Red then stares back at his empty stew pot. He pitied the old man, a victim of his own madness. Talking about whispers, he wondered how long it's been since the last time he talked to someone, his dull eyes told him it had been too long. He wanted to repay him with his only currency he had, words.

"You wanted to know why I left. I could tell you."

"I got time, it might help both of us, you look like you got a lot on your plate."

So the hours passed by, Luc left out many details that he did not want to discuss, his memories of Ana brought a small smile to him. He finished with him leaving her behind, wondering the desert for an unknown period of time, as time was lost to him, he couldn't tell how many times the sun had risen and set. He only knew the way to go, not the destination.

Red looked like he had dozed off. When Luc had gone silent, he suddenly woke, he had heard everything.

"Now you told me, do you feel better?"

Luc thinks back to leaving his alien friend behind. "No."

"God's will led you away, you should take his advice." Red's eyes don't open.

"But you told me to go back to Barkly!"

"Then go back."

"I must go forward."

"Then forward you shall go."

He gestures to the door. Luc shakes his head, and thanks him for everything, before turning out the door. Red hadn't moved a inch, his eyes were still shut, he didn't utter a single word when Luc walked out. His back was cast in the shadow of the lamp. He looks up at the sky, it was early morning, he had to keep moving.

The sun peeked over the horizon, now it was the perfect weather, not hot nor cold. But it wouldn't last long, Luc should have asked for some water to keep, but Red had seemed to stop working after he left him. Perhaps it was the voices in his head, an old man like that would've been very fragile.

 _He couldn't handle it._

Handle what? He stops walking, looking around him. He had been close to the mountains, and the canyons accompanying them. He had only ever seen these mountains from the safety of the city. Now that he was this close, he admired the beauty of them. They were covered in mulga trees, they looked to be dying, but that's just how they are.

 _The highlands closed off the hidden valleys._

Valleys? Why was he having these strange thoughts? He walks around the mountain base, he soon came across a small valley behind it, he knew the valley was here, he always knew, somehow.

 _But you didn't know._

"Hello?" He calls out. He turns around, nothing. He spins on the spot, still nothing around him. The deserts heat must be playing tricks on him, draining his sanity, like a dried up well.

 _The red sands can do that._

"What the..?" After seeing no one around him, he closes his eyes. He might be turning mad, his thoughts were not his own. Something was taking his thoughts and turning them into someone else's words. As his eyelids blocked out the light, he eventually could see a thin figure in front of his closed eyes, with four hands beckoning him forward, it almost looked like an Elder monument, but not quite right.

 _It's because they are in my image._

He opens his eyes, the figure was gone. "Who's there?" He calls out.

 _You are different, and dying, you need some shade soon._

"Tell me who you are!" He speaks to the empty desert air.

 _Find some shade, I will tell you._

Not of his own will, his head turns to a small alcove in the distance, hidden by some giant red rocks. Obediently, he walks over to them, the rocks hung precariously on one another. He crawls inside, already cooler in the shadow of the rock.

 _That's better isn't it?_

"Yeah." Is all he says.

 _Don't be so bitter. I am happy to meet you, Luc._

"How do you…Who are you?"

 _Ana._

"What?" he says, shocked.

 _No, I am Kurt, or Indira, or anyone you want. However I am widely known as Gulisa. If you prefer._

"How do you know my name, or the others?"

 _I am one of a kind, I am everywhere, yet I am alone, I reach out to any who wander, but they always leave me, never listen to me. Head into the valley, I can barely feel your presence, I beg you, I mean you no harm._

The voice sounded pleading. He looks down to the nearby valley, he wonders if it's a good idea to follow a voice into who knows where. But he looks back, there is nowhere else to go.

 _A small oasis lies within, I wouldn't lie, you need the water after all._

He thinks about it, but didn't fight it any longer, if there was an oasis, he had to find it. He leaves the rocks shadow, and walks down a small winding path into the valley. The further down the path and into the valley he goes, the more the tufts of grass grow denser, and the more vibrant there colours become. The valleys sides towered over him, reminding him of the buildings in the city. He pushes these thoughts away. Picking up the pace, staying as close as he can in the great red walls.

Sure enough, the sound of water up ahead brings him to a slight run. As he gets closer to the source, he can make out a small river bed, cut in half by a tarmac road. He rushes to the water, cupping his hands in the source of life on his hands and knees. He drinks up as much as he could.

 _I told you. Feel better?_

"Yes…" He says as he gulps some more water down.

 _You poor thing, why do you wander?_

"I look for a new home." He washes his face from the dust.

 _Perhaps we can help each other, as you humans say 'You scratch my back, I scratch yours'. I know where you can go, humans live out here. And I know where. I know you know I know._

"What?"

 _Never mind, help me, and I will show you the way._

"Fine, but you need to explain some things to me."

 _Of course, I wouldn't expect you not to have questions. Head over this way._

Luc's head turns on its own, towards where the road leads.

"Very well." He gets up and follows the road, his boots crack the fragile surface on every step.

"How are you moving my head? And how are you speaking to me? Where are you? Why is it…" He shoots questions in a flurry, and he had plenty more where that came from. But his mind felt like it had just been washed, and his head was cleared. All his questions left his head. For the first time in a long time, he had a clear mind.

 _Easy does it Luc, wouldn't want to lose your head. I am an Elder, I speak like this to all. The reason I can move your gaze, is something much more complicated than I. Most humans barely acknowledge me. But you can hear me clearly, and that is on your end. And I don't know why. I have seen you for a while now. As you draw near me, I will become more clearer._

"Right…An Elder?"

 _In your mind, you would call me an Elder, yes._

Luc had only seen the monuments of the Elders, he had never seen one in person. He wondered why one was out here in the middle of the desert, clearly they were the leaders of all aliens, maybe it was stuck out here, a powerful alien, stuck in a desert, a funny thought.

"So how far away are you?" He asked.

 _I will guide you, should be just more than a day's journey, I will help you cover more ground._

Luc keeps walking, following the solid ground road, but at least he had a guide this time, a voice in his head. He's finally gone mad. He cracked, just like Red had done. But the voice had felt so real, maybe this is just how insane people imagine voices.

 _So, I could search your mind about these people, but I'll ask you instead, who is Ana?_

"None of your business."

 _Oh, but it is my business, I gave you information about me, now return it. If you don't, I'll read your memories instead. So you might as well._

He could imagine it crossing it arms and smirking. "Fine, she's an Angelko."

 _My, you know what they are called, call me impressed, she tell you this? I wonder why. You are full of surprises._

It says, or in this case, 'thinks' this to him in an almost joyful manner.

 _And what about Kurt, and Indira? And this James..._

It must have felt his emotions quell at the sound of their names. As its voice gets a sadder tone

 _I hope their deaths were painless._

"Don't bother Gulisa, they wouldn't exactly care what you say about them."

 _Rebels? Fighting our hospitality? And you…you joined them?_

"Yeah.."

 _No, no...you were forced weren't you? Oh no, your poor sod._

"Shut up." He raises his voice.

 _You came out here, left your home behind in a fight. You killed and butchered your way out of the city, leaving Ana behind…Going out here on a humans word…_

 _GET OUT!_

He closes his eyes and clutches his head, digging his nails into his scalp. He tries ignoring the voice, blocking it out as best he can. Soon its voice was reduced to whispers, then it went away completely. He takes a long sigh. Enjoying the returning silence, where only the wind could be heard. He follows where the voice told him to go, and a small truck could be seen in the distance. He calls out, running towards it. It was black, and had ADVENT logos along the sides, no driver could be seen, but the back was half open, he lifts the door with some effort, and digs through the cargo. He found a few meals and some water in the back. And he hadn't wasted a second to dig into it.

As he chows down on the supplies, he thinks about his small fortune, he hadn't found it on accident, the voice had led him to it. Without it, he wouldn't have found this. He wanted to talk back to it, to thank it, even though it had intruded his personal life without permission. He thinks about how picky his is with a powerful alien reading his mind, it could probably do more than just move his head, he wanted to apologise. But he decided to rest instead, he would talk after a small sleep. Or in his case, an uneasy slumber. He slept for a few hours.

 _Luc stood outside a large wooden gate, his legs weaken and he falls to the ground. He calls out to anyone inside, before passing out. His view changes to above him and he sees himself lying in the dirt, the gates open, and a few figures pick him up and take him inside the gate, and the gate closes again, and he sees no more._

Luc wakes up, again his chest was burning, his Angelko medallion was hot to the touch, before cooling a moment later. He looks around, the midday sun shines through the small cracks through the bottom of the door. He takes a deep breath, and closes his eyes. Reaching out his mind to Gulisa's voice, it responds a moment later.

 _Luc? I am so sorry, please forgive me, I didn't mean to…_

"Save it, tell me where you need me."

 _Oh thank you, I see you found the supply truck. When you're ready, I will show you the way._

Standing up, he opens the door, the sun blinds him for a moment, before his eyes adjust and he jumps to the ground. His eyes meet a certain direction, Gulisa's doing. And he walks that way without question.

"So why are you out here anyway?"

 _Well, I was being transported around here. But my convoy was attacked, and my vehicle was destroyed, the attackers fled, but not after slaughtering everyone._

"So are you dead?"

 _No, well not completely. My body is halfway to death, but I still remain inside it, not dead, but not alive. I can only speak, not move._

"How long have you been like this?"

 _Seven years_

Luc stops, seven years? Even an alien doesn't deserve a fate like that. He felt horrible at that moment, he had blocked it out. Ignoring the aliens pleads, he needed to make it up to it.

 _No need, I understand why you were angered, I intruded on your life, I won't do it again. You can repay me soon._

"I suppose being stuck out here got me on edge, but I'm sorry none the less."

 _Thank you. I'm surprised you managed to block my presence. You're a more gifted human than any other I have met. You would make a powerful ally. But alas, I am dead._

Luc crosses a small junction in the road, no civilization could be seen anywhere, yet Gulisa ushered him onwards. And he followed he road into the sun that had begun to set. He had walked for the whole afternoon, at least today he had some company, which he was glad for.

"Can I ask you something?" He says as he stops for a small rest.

 _Go ahead._

"In the city, we found what the gene therapy clinics were doing to its patients, care to explain why they are stuck in pods?"

A long silence passed, she was clearly in deep thought, it hadn't expected this.

 _No, I didn't._ It interrupts. It then speaks a moment later.

 _They were a part of something greater, but that is all I know. From you, it looks horrible, but trust me, the other Elders need to do it. It's for a greater good._

"They process all those people! How could it be good for anyone?"

 _You just have to believe me when I say I know no more._

"I don't."

Luc had known it was lying this time. But he thought no more of it. Gulisa had wiped these thoughts away with a flick of its mind. Luc hadn't known this, he wouldn't know for a long time.

He had walked until the sun dropped down out of sight, and the great plains were shrouded in darkness. Luc wondered if he could find some shelter, or warmth, as the cold bitter air soon chipped away at his skin. Gulisa had helped him in describing exactly how to start a fire, as he closed the distance to the Elder, it could see almost exactly what he could. Helping him exponentially. He gathered tufts, and splintered wood in a pile near a small cave. After a gruelling amount of time filled with Luc's failed attempts, and Gulisa's frustrated voice in his head, he finally made a small fire.

 _By the void, you did it!_ It says in mock.

"Screw you. Your descriptions were terrible."

 _Your basic survival skills were at fault._ The voice counters.

Giving up on defending himself, he lays his head down on his hands, making a makeshift pillow.

 _I will see you tomorrow Luc, rest now._

"See you later."

He slept.

 _He holds Ana as he runs back to safety, his back was hit by a few bullets, but he didn't care, he had to get her back. He passes by the last trees, the forest was thick of them. He ran downhill, hiding her behind a wall near a ramp, his fellow operatives covered him excellently. He hides behind the wall with Ana._

" _Everyone is ready!"..."Let's pull out!" He looks to her face, she was wounded, but alive, he says something to her, but he was muffled, darkness consumed his vision all together. Ana's face was the last thing he saw before he was pulled away from her, with her shocked face trying to reach him, but failed._

Luc groans in tiredness, rubbing the sweat from his brow. He sits up for a while. The dead fire still held an awkward shape, he didn't know how long it had gone for, but it wasn't bad for his first fire. He got up, clutching the burning amulet around his neck, and went on his way, towards Gulisa, towards salvation.

Blisters marked his feet, and his hands were sore, the wrinkles in his skin crackled with the movement. He wondered what he looked like now, he may be sunburnt, or his face scratched to oblivion, or both, he couldn't tell. Hopefully the humans don't mistake him for a really ugly alien.

He crested a small sand dune, small in comparison to most of the deserts terrain. And hidden over this sand was the tops of buildings in the distance, his eyes lit up at the sight, he found civilization at last, it felt it had been an eternity in the endless deserts. Now he finally found a town, deep in the desert.

 _Another presence walks with you._

He spins around in all directions, spotting nothing, he looks confused.

"I am alone."

 _Hmmm…Your necklace._

He looks down at the burning eyes of the amulets face.

"What about it?"

 _It's hard to describe, it's almost alive, and its angry, dangerously so._

He goes to remove the clip, but it hisses threateningly at him, startling him, the amulet was angry.

 _Don't do that._

"Really?" He sarcastically asks, letting go of the necklace, the hissing dies down slowly. Ana's gift has a mind of its own, he wonders how that works, who made it? Did she do it? He would love to know how.

He quickly walks up a final sand dune, the town comes into clear view. It was mostly industrious, with old world designed buildings. The factories had long pipes that reached into the sky, they had been remained idle for some time.

"Well, I'm here. Let's get you out of here."

 _I'm glad you listened to me, you won't regret it._

He walks down the hill towards the town. He makes it down to the spacious streets of whatever old world town this place was called.

The buildings were filled with all matter of items, and the warehouses were filled with all sorts of odds and ends. Had everyone dropped everything and left so quickly that they hadn't bothered to take anything with them? The people must have been in a rush. He wonders why so much could be left behind to rot.

 _No one comes here anymore, they hear my voice and run away screaming, no one would help me, and everyone soon left. Calling me a 'ghost'. The nerve of them…I would tell you how they could kill everyone here, but it would take to long._

Gulisa had led him into the centre of town. Small ADVENT cars and trucks had been painted with bullet holes, and two trucks had been destroyed, merely wrecks of their former selves. He watched the closest one, it was on its side, and its back was slightly open.

 _That's the one, I am in there._

Slowly, he creeps up to the trucks cargo door. It lifted very easily, and some of the outside light lit up the dark interior. Inside, a large coffin like box leant against the cargo walls, its surface glowed a bright purple colour, as did most of the interior.

He climbs inside and reaches closer to the coffin, just an arm's length away. On the lid, a figure was painted, it was a more detailed version of an Elder, its arms were raised, and it radiate with power, Luc could feel its mind connecting to his.

 _Grab a gun, destroy it, destroy me. Let me finally rest in the void._

He climbs back out in search of a gun, he didn't have to look far. As many ADVENT troopers had been lying nearby, decomposing in the baking sun. He lifts one rifle, and the arm grabbing it disintegrated at the slightest touch. It was loaded, he climbs back into the truck once more.

Just as he lifts the gun towards the coffin, he stops himself, he needed the information first.

 _Kill me, I won't die instantly, I will tell you then._

"No deal." Luc wasn't having any of it. "Tell me first, then I will end your suffering." The voice pauses for a moment.

 _Fine, go straight to the north, a rebel den is nearby as are the green grasses, now please. End it. I can stand this no longer._

Luc brings up his rifle, and loads several bullets into the coffin. It loses its purple glow, and dulls until the truck goes back into darkness. A moment later, a small purple image rises from the coffin, it swirls above him before settling nearby, it was a perfect image of an Elder, with a large mask covering its face, with a long robe covering all of its body. It stares at him. And he looks on with fascination. Is this what they look like?

 _Thank you so much._

It slowly drifts towards him.

 _You deserve the biggest reward I can offer you, my power._

Its hand slowly touches his face. Even though he couldn't feel it, its presence was still somewhat comforting.

 _Your potential is astonishing, I have never felt such a powerful untrained human mind. You will do great many great things. I give what I have left to you, use it well._

Just then, Luc's mind slowly grows in pain, as if the walls of reality crashed around him. It was as if a knife had been stabbing his mind, and the blade was on fire. His body went into shock. He could see that he was hovering slightly above the ground. The world grows slightly brighter before returning to normal. Then he suddenly dropped to the ground, hitting the ground with a loud crash.

He slowly stands up, he felt different, much different. His mind was slowly easing down his pain, it was gone almost moment later. He felt connected to everything around him, he felt more open minded than ever before, he could feel the ground beneath his boots, the tips of his fingers were more sensitive. And he felt more perceptive than ever, and most of all, calmer than he had ever been, all of which was strangely pleasing. Gulisa had kept its word, he felt his strength grow slightly.

He looks towards the coffin he destroyed, he pries off the lid and it drops it to the ground. Inside was a body, with one leg completely missing and its body was peppered in bullets, more than Luc had shot, someone clearly wanted it dead before he came along. It wore very dark purple armour, and a light purple facemask, its skin was completely obscured with these features. It had long wavy hair that was as white as snow. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remove the mask off the body. He was expecting an Elder's body, but this humanoid wasn't that, maybe they were all humans in disguise. But then again, the floating image of the Elder didn't look like this humanoid.

He looked over the human body once more, next to its boots was a small device, he picks it up and examines it. It had a handle at its base that fitted his hand comfortably, two teeth extended out of the top of the hand held device, he waves his hand through the gap between the teeth, his hand could feel some energy in between them, but he couldn't see any of it, perhaps this thing was in disrepair, it had a small hook on its side, he places it on hip, and leaves the truck and into the daylight, it wasn't as blinding as before, even though the sun was at its peak. He leaves through the northern part of town, passing the war torn convey and passed more factories filled to the brink of items. He followed Gulisa's advice, and headed north.

He stumbled along the red sands for hours, or was it days? Months? Whatever it was, he was making a great distance, he almost had given up on his trek after the fiftieth hill, but his mind pressed him onwards. Sure enough, a small wall could be seen hidden in between some hills. He finally had found the den. He picks up the pace towards the great wall. Using the last of his energy to push himself to the gate, the ground nearby the wall had a small amount of a green tinge, and the red sands turned into grass. He was surprised at this, had the desert reached its end?

"Someone! Anyone!" He calls out to the gate, he began to stumble, losing his balance. He fell on his knees, suddenly tired. His face met the grass upon the ground, it was soft on his face, just before he passed out, a few blurry figures busted through the now open gate towards him, he couldn't keep his eyes open long enough to see who had carried him inside.

-XXX-

" _We can't trust him."_

" _The freak will get us killed!"_

" _Leave him out there ma'am."_

" _We will found out what he knows when he wakes."_

He didn't open his eyes for a while. He was on a soft bed, something he hadn't felt in a long time, he just enjoyed it while he could. Slowly he opened his eyes, a giant fan was above him, cooling the hot air around him. The walls were made of bricks, with a few cracks here and there, letting the sun's rays shine upon him.

He looks around the room, there was nothing, it was a small cell. The far wall was in fact a set of bars. He stood up and rubbed his head, looking through the bars, his room was at the end of a large corridor. Sets of doors were on either sides, the far end had a small opening, it lead to the outside, into the sunlight.

He could hear footsteps coming from one of the rooms, a moment later a women exited one of the doors, she was blonde, she looked up at him, he swore he could hear her screech, before she ran off towards the exit.

"Wait!" He yells, but she was already gone, running outside, yelling something incoherently.

"Hello?" He calls again, but still no response. Why was he in a prison? This isn't what he expected the resistance to do to him, he needed to explain to someone, so he waited, first standing at the door for ten minutes, then lying on the bed for another fifteen, until finally looking outside the crack in the wall in boredom. He could see a clothesline, but not much else, he thought he saw green grass, but couldn't be sure.

He then heard footsteps in the hall, he turns and sees two women staring back at him, one was the girl who ran off before, now holding a small pistol shakily. The other was a black haired women, wearing a green beanie. They both wore combat fatigues, with the black haired women also wearing shoulder pads, and a small backpack.

"Your finally awake." The black haired women says to him. "What's up with you?"

He looks confused. "What are you talking about?" But as he says this, he could tell his voice had changed slightly, he sounded more clearer, at least to him he was.

"Your face." She looks annoyed.

"What about it?"

"Forgot what you looked like?" She disappears around the corner for a minute. The blonde looked terrified, she avoided his gaze. She didn't look to much younger than he was. Perhaps his time in the desert rubbed off on him, he hadn't washed at all, and maybe he had cuts on his face, perhaps he did in fact look like death itself from what he went through.

The woman came back holding a small mirror. She chucks it at him, he catches it with one hand, he turns it over and looks at it. What he saw was a completely new face, he even thought it wasn't him for a moment, something was terribly wrong with his face. He hadn't had a single mark on his face, his face had not a speck of sand nor dust, his face had not a touch of burnt. But this was minuscule to what really bothered him. His green eyes had changed to a light purple, and his hair was snowy white, he touches his face in reaction. _'White hair? What the hell happened to me?_ ' he thinks to himself, touching his now incredibly soft hair.

His new look stared back at him, mimicking his shock. "By the void..." Is all he could muster.


	7. Chapter 7

_The Earth twisted around him. The grey stone terrain loomed overhead, and below. He was floating, yet there he stood. Without feeling, without knowing, yet this all was irrelevant in this place and time. It was cold, yet it was warm. And like the minds of some people, it was rotten to the core. Yet all was pure, like a baby who had just been born._

 _The eternal nothingness stretched on forever, he calls out, and the echoes of his voice drag ever onwards across the invisible walls of time. He thinks back to how long ago he ran the webs of life without knowing this place existed, how could he ever live without this horrible yet great place. Indeed it was horrible, but still greatness lingered here. The floating made him nauseous, and he wished for dry land._

 _And so it was._

 _Landing on his two feet, the land twisted around him like wildfire. Nothing moved, nothing was, yet it all connected like pieces of a puzzle. He wished the land was not so empty, he wanted something here with him in his eternal solitude._

 _And so it was._

 _Trees, grass and fields of ocean surrounded him. He thought he was on a beach, the blue waves crashed in an effort to reach up the shore as far as they could go, clawing at the dry land, consuming the sand. But still he was alone, that was until shadows passed him without thought, without trace. Humanoid in shape, others were reptilian, but all were as black as the void itself._

 _Yet still this didn't please him, company he wanted wasn't here, but he wanted it here now. He wanted a friend, he wanted someone who would treat him right, who he would help forever. The grey sands, water and sky began to change into natural colours._

 _And so it was._

 _Someone had walked out of the dying waves, walking. No. Slithering towards him at a snail's pace. He looks at him. No. Her. And lets it come forward. He felt such quelling emotions at her presence, yet none he had ever known before. He loved, and he felt loved. Yet he knew it couldn't be true, not now, not ever._

 _Luc. Are you to quick to judge?_

 _The voice was one with Ana's. She spoke to him. Her shadowed hand connected with his own. And he felt as if his whole race went extinct, all because of him. And her. Especially her. The thought of a billion lives lost to him, to his failure._

 _No. He answered_

 _And if you're wrong? If I become your undoing?_

 _I will find a way to make things right._

 _You can't._

 _I will find a way._

 _You won't._

 _I will find a way._

 _Do what you will, but in the end, death will come for you, as it does to all._

 _Let it try ._

 _Judgement goes both ways. You made one terrible mistake, and you fail because of it._

 _And with those last words, the figure disappeared back into the waves of old. Forgotten, broken, it had snapped off his mind like a branch of a tree. Disconnecting itself forever, but not before leaving behind a piece of itself within the walls of his mind, a purple shadow that just sat like a rock in his mind, not doing anything, but still doing something._

 _That was enough, he woke himself._

Rather than wake up gasping for breath, or with a heated chest from his medallion, or a large coughing fit. He woke peacefully, with grace, and with some new found pride. As if being held in a cell was nothing of concern. His body leant against the cold metal bars. Outside them was a snoozing girl, the blonde from before, her golden hair draped down to her shoulders, she was sitting at an awkward angle, but that didn't stop her from resting.

She was just out of arms reach. Her back slightly turned against him, sitting in a bright green lawn chair that bended from her weight, if ever so slightly. The one with the beanie had left, telling the blonde to 'Be brave.' And 'Keep an eye on him.' It did not matter though, she was resting, and he didn't try to escape. He was not there enemy, he had to prove it.

A small tingling sensation prodded the back of his mind, a feeling of _peace_ , and _tiredness_. He thought about where it came from, but it was obvious, from the blonde.

He could feel her sleeping, yet not of what she dreamt, this feeling was tender, he should not push it to hard in case his mind folds in on itself. Perhaps he could wake her with his own thoughts, or give her nightmares. He tried the former. He sent waves of his own emotions back at her, thinking about _waking_ , _unrest_ , and the _sun_ outside. She began to stir.

She groaned in restlessness, clutching her head as she wakes from her slumber. She looks lazily at him.

"How long?" she asks light heartedly.

"Hours? Minutes? Seconds? Does it really matter?"

"True." She sits up, she had the small pistol on her leather belt, it was unloaded, that much was obvious. She had blue pants that matched her eyes, glittering like the sun reflecting off the sea.

"Blue suits you, like bread does butter." he tries to compliment.

"Uh..Thanks? I guess." _Stupid_ _comment_. He wanted to have a good first impression, if anything, he made her more fearful of him, he could feel it, yet could not describe it. Luc wanted to learn more about her with her own thoughts. It was harmless, mostly.

"So who was the mean old lady that came by? The one with the beanie?"

"My mother." _Damn it. Not a good start_. He could sense that she thought he was a bit of a creepy man (to put it lightly on what she really thought of him). Straining his eyes and mind, he could make out something about her, her name. Phoebe. It hurt his head slightly, but it was almost easy to do.

"So Ph…I mean, what's your name?" he asked.

"I'm not supposed to talk to you." She wasn't lying.

"You spoke first." Even though _he_ woke _her_. She didn't need to know that.

She thinks about this. Which was Perfect. She wondered why this stranger came here of all places. ' _Who was he?'_ Was her main thought.

"What's up with your eyes?" she pondered.

"Don't like them?"

"Not that, it's just there, uh…" She trails off. Thinking of what the word is, it came to him before she spoke it.

"Mesmerising?" he says, playfully gesturing his hands in mocking confusion.

"Yeah..yeah." She looked confused, he pulled the words out of her mouth before she spoke. (Her thoughts went on as to how and why, it was funny in his opinion).

"You born like that? White hair and all?" She asks.

"Well I.." But he doesn't finish. Now it was his turn to be thrown into the pit of confusion. Where did he get them? "I had green ones before..." Before what? He didn't know. Something happened, something in the red sands, he did something. Something that would come back to bite him eventually.

"Before I met.." Luc trails off again.

"Who?" she asks.

It was a voice, no, a whisper, or was it something else. It was feminine, or maybe it wasn't. It had a name, something beginning with the letter H. Or was it T? J? He thinks hard about his time in the desert, there was an old man, 'Blue' or something. Then there was a voice. Then he remembered no more, his mind was closed then, he couldn't read mines then, but now he could, he didn't know how. Or can't remember. _Both probably._

"I don't know." Is all he says before something catches his minds attention.

At that moment, another presence comes closer to the door at the end of the hall. This one's mind was louder when it stood in the doorway, the figure cast some of the sun's rays to shadow. Perhaps he could feel the woman's mind from sight, or how loud her angry thoughts were, or he just couldn't feel the ones outside. He thought his mind should be flooded with thoughts due to the amount of people talking outside. But he couldn't think about that now.

"Oi! I told you not to talk to him till' I get back!" She storms over to Phoebe, and she responds with a salute, standing straight, eyes locked on the opposite wall. He hated the stupid beanie this leader wore, and so did Phoebe.

"I'm sorry mother, I got distracted by him." She points at Luc, who pulls an innocent face. He didn't want her in anymore trouble, even though technically, he was at fault for this one.

"Clearly." The beanie women strides over to the bar door, key in hand.

"You can't just blame me because I am.."

"Shut up _freak."_ Beanie lady said. Emphasising on the last word.

He backs away, allowing her to enter and lock the door again. She was slightly shorter than he, but that didn't stop her from intimidating him. He held his ground when she walked over to him, as if he was an ant beneath her boot, she comes almost face to face with him. Her face was slightly skinny, where as Phoebe's was more like a tomato, how they could be related, he had no idea.

"You got a name _freak_?" she says looking slightly up at him.

Taking no offense, he gave his name, holding out a hand in greeting, she slapped it aside with a gloved hand.

"Where you from?" And when she heard his answer, she gave a hearty laugh, not stopping for a minute, he looks on in question, Phoebe shared a confusing look. Scanning the mind of the beanie women, he found _surprise_ which worried him slightly. After she stops her hysteria, she gains back her mean old serious face.

"New Isa? No one ever walks out that far on their own. You are alone? No friends left out there?"

"I am alone."

"You realise you're asking me to believe you walked over the whole desert, alone. Without a scar nor mark, not a speck of dirt in your bright white hair? Or not the least sunburnt?" It was a stupid request, but he told the truth, though she didn't believe it, it was true. It had to be, he remembers the city lights, the red mountains, the abandoned towns. Nothing he could make up if he was truly insane at this moment.

"Yes." he confirms.

"Not just a freak" She turns out towards the doors. "…but a madman to." She locks the door, passing the blonde as she goes, he had to get her back, he had to say something. Something that only she would know, something his friend had said before she left him.

 _Tell them what you've seen here. Tell them they have hope. Tell them XCOM lives once more._

Just before she had left the hall, he recited the words. "XCOM lives once more."

She looked back at him.

"You have hope." he continues. "I've seen what Indira wanted me to see. I had a chip on me, you took it from me, it has what you desire the most."

She had walked back to his cell, she stood not as threateningly, but she was still suspicious.

"You know of XCOM…Where is she, where is Indira?" But he did not answer, he did not have to, she knew it before he could speak. "Vigilo Confido, Indira." She mumbles after a moment of looking to the ground.

"I knew her for a long time." He comforts thoughtfully, his deep and now slightly dream like voice was filled with sorrow. "She wanted me out here to give you the chip, as her last promise. Have you opened it yet?"

"No." she replies. "We cannot, because we don't have what we need to read it."

"Let me help you."

"Perhaps you could, but we need to discuss these things you carried, like that necklace." She points at his neck. "An aliens face, where'd you get it?"

"I bought it." Her mind was filled with _doubt_.

"I thought it would look nice." Still doubting.

"Then why is it boiling like fire when we touch it? Yet you look fine, for a _freak_."

He slowly casts his gaze at the amulet hanging from his neck, he could feel thoughts, not Phoebes, not the beanie woman's, not his own. The amulets.

 _Must punish, stupidity._ The voice was one of a goddess.

He would never have thought a piece of metal would be so hating, let alone have thoughts at all. But then again, who is he to question alien creativity? The amulet quieted for now.

"The sun can do that." He touches the medallion, and offers it to her. She doesn't take it, rather tests its heat, yet it was cold. She lowers her arm.

"Whatever, keep it hidden, or leave it, I don't care. But others will." She turns and leaves out the cell, with the door left wide open, she passes Phoebe, who flinches in her presence. Her mother had reached the doorway before calling out behind her.

"You coming freak?"

"Alright then." he whispers, standing up and stood at her back a moment later, and behind him, Phoebe followed him. They step out into the outside and sure enough, the red sands were replaced by green grass, tall trees and the sound of fresh running water was nearby. It could almost be a city centre, the many low houses could be an equivalent of the bright towering skyscrapers. Or the clinics. Children ran in groups after each other, laughing at whatever game they played. Others, grown humans, hung clothes up to dry, others tap water from a large tank. All surrounded by the wooden walls, cutting them off from the outside, cutting them off from the aliens. They didn't need the Elders guidance, they don't need population centres to keep them happy, they were happy out here, away from it all. All this flooded Luc's mind like a broken dam. It dazed him, but he quickly recovered, standing up straight again.

Phoebe had run to his back intent on catching his fall, but only laid a hand on his straightened back. He looks back at her, a faint red hue appeared on her face.

"Oh..Sorry I thought you'd.."

"You need not say more." He turned and put a finger to her mouth, silencing her immediately. The one with the beanie had caught wind of this, and slapped the back of Luc's head.

"Hands off!" She puts a hand to her gun holster on her hip.

"Didn't mean to insult you or your daughter ma'am." He brings his hand back.

"Not my literal daughter." She scowls at Phoebe for some reason. "But I am the mother. The Den Mother, you do what I say, when I say. No questions, you understand?"

"What's your real name?" he asked anyway. Even though he already knew it from her loud thoughts, he was still curious if she would tell him. The Den Mother only hit him again, it did hurt slightly, the force used against his head was like a boxer knocking out his opponent on the last round.

"No questions." She turns and walks, he shadows her. And the girl shadows him.

The two women both had one common thought, it was what he had expected them to think, he was glad he could read thoughts so easily. As if he had done it long before he got here. No downside except for the flooding of others thoughts, but he could block them out.

 _How the hell did he get here?_ Was the common thought.

Even he knew not the whole story, a hole in his memory was the fault. Just before he found a town, abandoned, then he was at the gates. Nothing was in between, yet there must have been something.

They entered a low makeshift building made from old brick. Two guards stayed either side of the door. A long bench covered most of the interior, like a giant feasting table, and on this table were guns, lots and lots of guns. MAG rifles to Alien beam weaponry, but mostly the ones Indira had piled up in her own resistance, old world, but still working. He didn't need to look twice to know they had enough ammo to put Indira to shame.

There were exceptions to this collection of weapons, but what stood out the most was the thing he had carried with him to the gate. The thing with the handle, and two teeth. Someone was prodding it with a screwdriver, with a bronzed man standing behind him. He thought the man was made from copper, this one had a mean tan. His tight jaw and ridged face gave off an aura of intimidation.

The Den Mother had approached the pair and tapped the copper man's shoulder, who in turn hit the one with the screwdriver on the ear, who must have prodded the wrong part as sparks went flying, and all three of them collapsed. The chain reaction of tapping resulted in three figures on the ground sprawling.

"Damn it Dave!" the copper one said in a heavily slanged accent.

The one dubbed 'Dave' had stood up. Bowed to the Den Mother and left the room(Not before calling the copper man an 'Idiot' many times). Still clutching the screwdriver like a knife, thinking about the many ways he could use it. The redhead disappeared out the door, not even giving Luc a glance.

"Steve you ass. Don't hit his head when he's working with an alien weapon!" She clips him like she had done to Luc. Though 'Steve' was twice his size in height and width, he still flinched at the contact.

"Bluey there was bloody not doin' what he was doin' quick enough!" he said almost like a kid speaks to his mother if she had grounded him. She hit him again to shut him up. Steve had just noticed that Luc had stood nearby Phoebe. As he approaches he squints his eyes at him, in Luc's peripheral, Phoebe almost begins to shrink away, leaving Luc on his own in the massive mans gaze.

"You lettin' this ratbag roam round' in our town?" he asks.

"Not freely." The Den Mother says. "With me." She holds up the thing with the teeth, it looked unscathed, as if jamming it with a screwdriver barely scratched it.

She turns to Luc. "You may know Indira, but you're not off the hook yet _freak_ , where did you get this thing?" She held it up in the air.

Although under Steve's wild gaze, he felt calm, he wasn't threatening him, at least he didn't feel like it. He tries to search Steve's thoughts, but comes up blank. Was his mind empty? Or was his mind harder to search?

Before he could answer, Steve snatched the thing away from her. "Useless." he said. "Don't work, good for nothin', and' me stubby over 'ere Phee." He points to a bottle behind Phoebe, who hands it to him. "Thanks, ya one noice sheila."

"I found it out there, thought it would do something, clearly didn't." Luc responded.

The Den Mother looked at the thing. "I'll get Dave to look at it more, might be valuable." She tosses it on the bench. " _Without_ you Steve. Now, freak, put this on." She takes another smaller item from the bench, a small watch-like device, with a small hand strap. It was just that, a small cube with a strap, no screen or tech except for a small red light on the side. He places it on his right wrist, with Steve clicking the strap in place very tightly.

"That won't come off you from now on. I'll be able to see you from that." She points out the window, he walks over to it and scans the outside.

Just outside on the grass, a technological contraption surrounded by boxes with green tarps sat. It had an 'X' shaped radar dish, only the X-shape lay horizontally, and it whirled around about one whole rotation per second he looked at it. The contraption had a small dish underneath it, below that was what looked like computers, wired up to a single small monitor with a keyboard beneath it. All of it was attached to a central rod that protruded from its base, which was a small box, probably filled with more computers. It may be a communicator, in fact the Den Mother thought of it as a 'Radio Relay' that they used to communicate with all of the haven.

"Go far enough away from that. And you will be a powdered cake." She says, laughing towards the end.

He stares at the death-trap on his arm, she wasn't lying, explosives were armed, he couldn't, and wouldn't, leave no matter what. Not even his open mind could think of a way to disarm this thing. Unless he could knock out this 'Relay', he was stuck.

 _This is what you wanted, you can't go back, only forward._ His mind had told him. And he would comply.

"Don't worry mate." Steve claps his shoulder with unusual restraint for such a big guy. "Don't be a drongo bout' it, an' you be right kay?"

"I can't understand a word your saying." Luc replies, getting a short laugh from Phoebe.

"I'm letting the rest of the haven about my decision to let the _freak_ wander, If you truly helped Indira, than you can prove it soon. Meet me back here after Steve is done with you. Not like you're going anywhere." The last part was under her breath, but he had heard it clear as day. She leaves and ponders with the relay with Phoebe. He wanders what it was like to live in the Den Mothers shadow all the time, he was already nicknamed _freak_ by her. He couldn't imagine the torment Phoebe would have to go through.

"Don't worry bout' them ay?! Your one hell of a rippa I think, I'm tellin' ya. You looked like a dag when I picked ya up and got ya in that cell. You need the rest roight? I get ya something." Then without checking if he had followed, Steve left in direction of another building across the field.

"She be nice ta you later, don't be a squib round her, show er' how you're a top bloke alright?"

But Luc didn't listen, he couldn't understand him.

They passed the radio relay. The Den Mother was toying with unreadable amounts of text, whilst Phoebe read a small paper filled with similar text. They paid him no mind, and Steve unhooked a latch on a nearby box covered in one of those green tarps, he chucked some fresh green clothes at him without looking back.

"Thiers a john over there that ya' can use mate." He jerks his thumb beside him, and in the small cliff face of a hill was a small outhouse looking shack.

"A john?"

"Dunny."

"Oh."

He enters the 'john' and begins changing his attire. No longer wearing the strands of single cloths he used to call his city clothes. Now in some unusual combat fatigues that covered his legs and arms whole. He rolled up his sleeves due to the heat, and returned to Steve, but he was gone, and the Den Mother was there instead.

"Be glad you have that, _freak_." She points to the clothes he wore. "Won't do you any good though. Come."

"I thought you would meet me after…Never mind then." He wanted to finish, but a cold stare of the Den Mother told him not to.

She led him back to the gate he once came in through. 'Open em' she called out, and the gates obeyed her command. And Luc stood staring out to the endless stretch of the desert again. Looking not at his goal, but away from it.

She draws a pistol and hits his back with it gently. "Walk." She orders.

"Where to?"

"A town, filled with goods, that way." She points the barrel out to a distant mountain. "Get something worth your time in there, then I will believe you when you say that we have hope."

"What is it that's worth in this place?"

"You will see it when you do. We need a water filter. I couldn't tell you what it would look like, your little brain couldn't handle the details."

But he didn't need to hear her describe it, just her mentioning it painted a picture in her mind, which he took a glimpse at, it was a bunch of mangled technology that was small, and cube in shape.

"We sent others to get it, maybe if we had someone who helped XCOM back to its feet we could get it. And if you tell the truth, you shouldn't have a problem finding it. Now go."

"But my watch! You said I'd be a powdered cake if I left!"

"It has a distance detector, that town is not far enough away to trigger the detonator, I will monitor you from here, now go."

He had came such a long way (Though he knew not the exact distance) and now that he was here, he was already being sent outside the safety of the walls, he felt better in that cell. At least he was cooler inside than out here. Behind him he heard something drop, a small backpack, and an excuse for a knife lay beside it. The gates already closed with a _clang._

"Thanks!" he yelled in an enthusiastic voice. Though inside he felt like strangling the Den Mother. _Indira was more slack against me, she has odd friends._ Though he couldn't blame her caution, he was, in her mind, a _freak._ And he himself thought he did look weird, but he wasn't _that_ bad looking...was he?

He slings the bag over his shoulders, and clutches the knife with white knuckles, as if it was his only source of life out here. He set off into the desert, annoyed that he had done this already, now leaving his goal behind him, in search of some water filter, which he hadn't even known what it would look like if he couldn't read minds, which annoyed him further. _A loving Mother._ He thought out loud. _Sent others to get this thing, none returned. A loving Mother alright._

He walked on towards the mountain she had indicated.

-XXX-

At a distance, the mountain where the Den mother said the _thing_ she wanted from him looked like any other mountain, jagged square rocks protruded from the sides and top, they had almost perfect right angled shapes, like small buildings. The whole mountain itself was like an upside down bowl, Luc realised as he was almost half a day's walk towards it that the jagged parts where actually buildings, they were brownish red, just like the mountain. They were as if part of the giant rock itself, with no indication that they were manmade.

He stands in the great rocks shadow, looking back, the small line of the havens gate that connected the ground to the horizon could just barely be seen, he imagines the Den Mother watching him, on top of the wall, all cosy with her own shadow named Phoebe. Laughing at him endlessly.

Though it seemed like he came out here with nothing but a knife and a bag, but someone put a bottle of water and a small bar made from nuts inside, along with a letter that read. ' _For you Mysir'._ Whoever this person was, they took a big risk doing it, the Mother wouldn't want her precious supplies wasted on him. He thought she herself tossed it over the wall. But it clearly wasn't her, maybe Phoebe?

He turns back to the rock, on this side of the cliff, a massive set of stairs cut through the rock to the mountain top. Carved into the rock with brutal efficiency, yet these stairs were also a matching colour of the rock. He wondered if this mountain was originally larger, and everything in this place was carved, rather than created.

Luc begins the ascending of the stairs, buildings clung all over the sides like barnacles below a dock. Not a single alley, no room between the rock-buildings. With exception to narrow streets that branch off the stairs every now and then on his climb. Narrow streets that he could barely fit his arm through. Clearly they weren't meant to be used as walkways or streets.

The stairs had tricked his legs, slowly but surely, the steps widened, making the steps to the top into a 'V' shape. He stopped and looked around, abandoned towns and cities seemed to litter the desert wherever he went. Not a sound presented itself, his footsteps echoes had ceased after a few seconds, as if he was in a long hallway, yet the skies were open to him. This place, something wasn't right about it. To clean. To empty, yet full of life, unseeing life. He stretched his mind, not much beyond unreadable whispers. Even his medallion did not say a word since he woke. Perhaps it slept.

He leant against a rock building for a bit. Contemplating this strange place. He could see no doors or windows on any of them, no way of entering any of them. Yet small crevices indented themselves into every second rock face. These dents were rectangular, and had smooth indents, just like the wall face, and big enough for his hand, and feet.

 _Holds._ He thought, they routed the way to the roof, even amounts of holds on either side. Checking around him once more, figuring nothing was around him, he grips the first hold sets with his feet, then the set above his above his head with his hands, and begins a slow cautious climb to the heavens.

Halfway up, the holds fitted well for his hands and feet, but he came to a sudden halt at the sound of movement above him. In the glare of the sun was a small shadow on the roof. But it had gone a moment later. _A bird, looking for something, just like me._ He keeps his climb up at a slightly faster pace, and had quickly reached the roofs edge.

He peers his head above the edge, hands clasping the roof. Above him stood the Den Mother, holding out a hand for him to take. A look of surprise, and anger, painted his face.

"Come on." He took her hand carefully, she pulled him up. "Wouldn't want you out of the fight yet, hey?"

"You're here." He stated more than asked.

"I want to help you." She slung a rifle down and aimed it at him. "I must."

After that, everything happened so fast. Her mind was blank, no anger nor joy. He bolted at her, smashing his body on hers, they tumbled onto the hot roof. She had her rifle flung aside on the impact, she starts scrambling from underneath him to reach it. But he stomped, hard, on both her knees, the _crack_ that followed sent chills through his spine.

And so he punched, threw his fist in anger at her black haired head. Her face wore a look of panic, staring at the rocky roof beneath her, her head hit the roof with every swing of Luc's arm. He did not stop until a minute later, that minute felt like an hour. Stopping only when he was sure she was dead.

His hand was dry, save for a few red blotches, the roof wasn't so lucky, he rolls her over with his boot, but her face, her face was unrecognisable, she couldn't be here, wasn't.

 _Not real._ Luc told himself, _illusions, not the Den Mother at all_. It was someone else, another wanderer lost in this place. He scans the roof, It was one big flat plane of all the building tops connect, with a few small gaps in between in some spots. Small paths winded around the area, holes and hatches dotted the plane. Other smaller buildings extended above the roof plane, slanting upwards towards the mountain peak at least a kilometre away.

The roofs looked like they made a larger stairway to the top. Old netting hid parts of the roof in shade, cargo and small cars spread across the roof plane. _The streets are the roofs._ He thought. _No room down below._

A powerful canon shot, followed by green light, punctured his left shoulder, he hunches forward from the pain and turns his head behind him.

A long reptilian creature roosted itself in a small tower like structure, he dives for the rifle, and pulls back the bolt, he lays on the ground, behind the mess of the Den Mothers former self.

Another canon shot, and the body he hid behind shook for a moment. He rested the barrel on the corpse, aiming at the creature, and fired six times as fast as he could, he hit all but the last. Because the creature had fallen off the tower and coiled on the ground on the fifth shot.

He walked, not so gracefully as before, to the creature. He was already panicking before he flipped it over, just like he had with the Den Mother.

 _Ana._

"Illusions." Luc said out loud, but he couldn't get the image of her dead expressionless face out of his mind. "Not real."

Seven more shots rang across the roof plane, coming from the highest point to his right. Without thinking, he ran towards them, leaving the two corpses behind, which he so desperately wanted to do.

Dozens of more shots rang out, before a high pitch whale cried out, then nothing. Silence consumed the mountain once more. _Not a human scream._ His thoughts confirmed. _Something else._

Luc ran, ran towards them, ran as fast as he could, leaving a trail of blood on his route. Deciding not to take the roof, he found another set of holds on the side of a building, and climbed back down to the 'V' stairs, dropping off around three quarters of the way down, and climbed the stairs with more haste. Slinging the rifle as he goes.

 _This place, I must leave_. But he couldn't, not until the water filter was found, he couldn't return, he… _wanted to stay. It wasn't that bad._

He knocks his head with his hand, silencing these thoughts, thoughts that were not his own.

After a half hour or less, he reached the peak of the mountain, a stadium sized hole was at the centre, distant machines could be heard underneath the mountain, and if he concentrated hard, he could hear…rushing water.

If this place had a water filter, it was down there. The stairs arched back into the hole, and Luc followed them into the dark abyss. Someone sane would have quit by now, but Luc wasn't (and didn't think he was) one to leave a dark crater unexplored.

A body spread across the eighth step, torch in hand, and wore a bright yellow jacket, he was Asian, and young. A machine gun lay beside him, probably the source of shots from before. He kneeled down next to the body, clearly it was dead. But upon closer inspection, his jacket was not yellow, but a sort of gold instead, but what was really confronting was that the gold jacket was _growing_ , and _moving._ Added to this was a small mind presence in it, it only projected one thought .

 _Kill_

Suddenly, the gold had enveloped the Asian man whole. Wrapping him in a sort of cocoon. Luc was stunned, his legs wouldn't carry him forward, or back. The cocoon bursted, and something crawled out and stood on four legs, sharp enough to stab through the strongest metals. Its face had the face of an oversized ant, two pincers lined with teeth, its body was crude, sharp, deadly. Several talons you could mistake for fingers were attached to two pointy arms.

 _KILL!_

It skittered towards him.

 _NO!_

The insect-thing obeyed, stopping to a halt, drooling all the while.

 _Kill_

But it's thought soon quickly changed. As Luc flooded its mind with one word.

 _Obey, Obey, Obey, Obey._

And then it did, it turned around and went lower into the earth, Luc followed slowly, constantly flooding the pink insects mind with _obey._ He tried asking it what it was. But it was a new born, it new nothing, it was nothing, just a vessel for other thoughts.

But whose thoughts? He had intruded its birth, but who was the mother? Or father? These thoughts he shared with the thing. It thought Luc was the farther. _Stupid thing._

 _My child, you took my child!_

A new motherly voice bounced off the walls of the dark hallway that the stairs had lead. But still Luc and the thing pressed on, and soon the hall opened up to an unimaginably large room. The tops and side were the shape of a dome, an _up-side down_ dome. Walkways lined the great space, a large waterfall covered the far side, going through many machines, filtering them. That was where he had to go. Below them was a large amount of water, covering whatever laid upon the mountain floor.

 _Give my child back!_ Those words filled the empty mountain like thoughts flooded his mind.

What covered the most central point of the room was a large blob of flesh and bone, giant tendrils and scythes protruded from the great fleshy mass. It was crude, jagged, it was the same as the insect he now controlled, only fifty times bigger, and a lot more flesh and bone.

 _My babies must feast!_

A large hole opened up on the side of the fleshy mass. And out plopped another insect thing, lying on the floor before standing up, another one followed suite, and another, and another…the voices that flooded his mind increased in size and frequency.

 _KILL, KILL, KILL, KILL!_

Luc's own insect thing rushed towards the mass of baby insects, intent on killing as many as it could for its human master. It slashed and dashed with its razor sharp front legs into the mass of aliens.

 _NO! Why do you hate us so! We must feed!_

Luc sprinted for the far side, some of the walkways were clogged with flesh, he climbed over some, but shot at a few as well, upon the bullets contact, the tendrils and flesh retired away from him in pain. The sound of the mother was washed with the torrential downpour of the great river that he was closing in on.

 _Stop it! Stop him my children! He would harm us!_

His controlled insect had been slaughtered in the mass in a matter of seconds, its mind disconnected with his own, its last thoughts were of its human master (he almost felt he had lost a family member). No longer weighed down by its mind, he dashed across to the waterfall. The idea of silencing this thing was his first priority.

The things began rushing him, one in particular had made a greater distance towards him. He turns back, pulls the bolt and fires. A mist of blood replaced the things head, and its body crumpled and curled up. The bang of a high calibre filled the mountain with a deep _boom_.

The metal rusted walkways lead him into a small hub above the waterfall, master switches and controls were all over the boards, in fully powered condition. He looked through the half shattered window, the things were massing, closing in on him. He hits a button labelled: ' _Door Lockdown'_ and the doorway he entered slammed shut. With a satisfying click.

 _Break it down! Stop him! Stop him!_

They clawed relentlessly at the steel door, it would hold for now. Luc scanned the buttons and switches, reading them out loud as he went.

"Unlock doors…Release valves…Water pressure increase…Inflow directive control…" He flicked and pushed most of these options, and he could already hear the water flowing more rapidly as he went on pushing buttons, creaking could be hear underneath. One button caught his attention, he knew it would do the trick. He hit the switch, closing all of the waterfall hatches, the pipes creaked and groaned and filled with water. They collapsed a moment later, sending spurts of liquid into the small room he was in, the crashing of waves flooded the great room with the fleshy things inside, the flashy mass screamed a high scream, as if the water was lava. And its legs began to shiver.

A service elevator was at the back of the control hub. Leaning on the wall was another corpse, this one held a pistol, and a small box in the other, this box was the thing the Den Mother had envisioned. This one must have been another she sent out here, not knowing the horrors of the insects that awaited him here. But he had no cocoon enveloping him, and no bullets or blood. He might have starved, right at the elevator.

The stone cold fingers grasped the box as if life would vanish if the corpse let go. A bit of effort pried them loose, but before Luc had hit the 'surface' button in the elevator, he glanced at the corpses face. One he knew he would know, but it still shocked him even as he took the lift to the surface.

 _The bloody face of Kurt himself._

The insects final thoughts enveloped him. They wailed in pain and confusion. The motherly voice took his head as her own.

 _You killed us! My children, my babies! Damn you!_

 _I had to._

 _You had to murder us? You had to kill my young? YOUR youth deserve to be killed for what you've done!_

 _I'm sorry. You'd have killed me._

 _Is your one life worth all my young combined? Is my family worth less than your single soul? DAMN YOU! Damn….you…._

The rattling of the elevator drove the voice away. And Luc was once more alone, the dying cries of the things soon became a distant memory.

And with that, he reached the top of the mountain, stepping out to the sun, he was at the highest building of them all. He could see the stairs that lead him hear, he would take them back to whence he came. He safely pockets the filter in his bag, and makes the long hard walk back. An entire family's blood now on his hands.

How much more would he soak his hands before this ends? And would it ever end?

-XXX-

"Open up!" Luc called, standing in front of the gates of the haven. Glad this time he was conscious.

No response.

"Hellooooo…" he starts to unzip his bag.

Still no response.

"I got the filter you wanted!" he cries. The gates open and the Den Mother was upon him like a bee against honey. Snatching the box from his hand forcefully.

Her eyes were so wide he thought they might pop, she studied it with much fascination.

"Took you long enough." She tries to maintain her fussy attitude of a leader in her prime, but her face told him otherwise.

"Your last man didn't make it, but he was close. What was his name?" He hoped it wasn't really his friend…

"Bill was the only man I sent, the rest were my daughters." Her eyes still hadn't left the filter.

He goes to touch her arm, planning on comforting her, but she brushes him off, Her attitude returning. "Don't patronise me! I call you welcome now, but keep away from me, the 'no questions' policy still stands, and here." She does something he can't quite catch, and his watch dropped to the ground with a small click. She turns and brushes by (unsurprisingly) a gaping Phoebe.

He walks up to her, holds out his hand, which she takes.

"I'm Luc, where can I get some lunch?" He puts on a smile.

After a few awkward seconds of silence, she speaks. "Phoebe. I…I..OK." and she shows him where he can.

-XXX-

"You flooded them? The whole lot of them?" she asks unbelievably.

"Yep, got the filter and left. Wasn't too hard." he brags.

He had recalled the whole journey while they sat in the cafeteria eating together, he was glad he could order whatever he needed. Seconds, thirds, he wouldn't let up, and he couldn't remember the last time he ate.

He did leave out the parts about his friends faces, (and may have added more gunfights, which she believed) and told her about the insects, he had asked 'Do you know of them?' when he described them to her, but she answered 'Never seen anything like that before.'

"These, insect things, I hate them already." She shivers.

"You hate bugs." _Not surprised._

"Yes." But he more stated then asked her that. He hadn't told her about his mind reading, or the words the insects spoke to him, if he did she would probably yell for the Den Mother, then she would tell everyone, then he might be dead after that.

 _Is your one life worth all my young combined?_ The thought rang through his head.

"So many of them, I killed them all." But he hadn't realised he said this out loud.

"There just bugs. Infecting our land, I'd have done the same, they should all be like, wiped off the earth." She takes another bite into her steak.

"Yes." he said. "Just bugs…"

He eats his meal in silence. When he had met his fill. He wanted to know more about Phoebe, he could read her mind, but was limited to emotions, and initial thoughts, if he found a way to train his gift, he could imagine the possibilities.

"How long you been here?"

"I was born here, twenty odd years."

"Is Addylin always this much of a b..." he asked without thinking.

"Yeah." she interrupts. "You won't tell her I said that right?"

"Of course." He pulls his lips back across his teeth in an evil smile.

"She is always like that, the duty of the leader you know? Ever since she took me in she…How do you know the Den Mother's name?" she whispers, just realising the same time Luc did that he spoke her real name, which he read off of her the moment he saw her.

"Well I…"

"It took me my whole life for her to tell me her name. And you get one water filter and she gives you it like that?!"

"You see…"

"What the heck kind of bull is this? You come in here, some _freak_ from the city, and you…" She trailed off. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to.."

"Its fine, forget I said anything. And I'll forget what you called _Addylin._ "

She nods and goes silent, he reads her thoughts. _What's it like out there?_

"Something on your mind Pheebs?" he asked, using her new nickname he made up on the spot.

Her thoughts then spoke. "The city, what's it like?"

"I'll be honest with you, I loved it. Every part of it was like a slice of heaven. You couldn't starve, the people left you alone, most of them. And the streets were peaceful. But there was one flaw in the system, the clinics, they housed those who wanted to help, some were put in pods, ready for shipping. I would've been in one had it not been for Indira. I met her in that city, along with my other friends, also someone I came to care greatly for."

"How did you almost become one with the pods? You go into this clinic?"

"Yes."

"What for?"

He was silent.

"You got.."

"I didn't get there service, I left them behind, we destroyed it, and that is that." But he hadn't kept his happy expression by the time he ended that sentence.

"Who did you come to care for?" she asked.

"I've already said to much." He looks around.

"Come oooon, tell me."

He stood up and left her at the table. "I'll see you around." he said harshly. And left the building.

Addylin, the Den Mother, had assigned him his own room, the cell he first woke up in the haven, the lock was removed, but it still left the prison vibe when he entered. But before he could rest his head and turn in for the night, a large figure appeared in the hall.

"Alright?" it asks in the slang of Steve. Luc nods to him.

"Oi mate, ya' wanna be shown around tha place?" Steve asked.

"Not at this time of night."

"Av a go yer mug. A bloke like ya' self need a guide amiright?"

Luc shakes his head. "Sure."

"Bonza!" And he leads him outside

Steve wondered out loud the amazement of the area they were in, they climb a small hill that crested the central area of the haven. The small amount of lights illuminated the dark. Luc could see the moderate farm fields to the south, but beyond the wall was total blackness.

"Ya' thing there." Steve points at his neck. "Nice joe blake face ay'! It a true blue?"

Couldn't be bothered understanding this man's voice. He reads his thoughts, but he still came up blank.

"It's real? Yes it is." Is Luc's best answer he could muster.

"Fair dinkum!" Steve turns to the farmlands.

"The roos love it ere', but the bloody things wan' our stock! I'd knock there blocks off I tell ya'." Luc had only ever known one person who spoke like this, this stereotyped accent was too good to be true.

"You come from around here?" he asked. He tried searching his thoughts, but still nothing was in his head. Perhaps he was just stupid.

But Steve had bowed ever so slightly. "I can feel your mind touching my own." He had lost his accent, replaced with a dull and droning one instead, losing all of his jolly attitude. He now showed respect both verbally and physically towards him. "Have you all left me out here so long you can't remember my function, Mysir?"

Steve had talked, and Luc was stunned, as if just hit on the head by a club.

"What?" Luc asked amazed, and confused.

"My function, I haven't strayed, I awaited your arrival, will we begin soon now that you are here?"

"You must mistake me for someone else" Luc then pointed at him. "I knew that voice was fake."

"You all wanted me to blend with them, I have."

"And how long have you been 'blending'?"

"All the while for you, I shall take the liberty of starting it then, shall I?" Steve raises to his full height, only now had his eyes truly shown themselves. They were red, but with a hint of orange, like a burning fire with unyielding potential, but they were just hazel before he broke his voice.

"Your silence is my answer, It will be done." These were Steve's last words before his accent returned and he left Luc standing on the hill alone. "Be seein' ya'." he calls back. "Bloody flamin' galah!"

 _Has the world gone mad?_ But he knew better, he wasn't mad, Steve had called him 'Mysir' and he meant it. That word… _Mysir._ It was familiar, but why would he call him that? And what function was he talking about, and what did he mean by 'blending'?

"Hold up Steve!" He runs after him, but Steve was gone, he was never there, the haven was deserted, except for the occasional guard that gave him odd glances, as if saying. _Why is the freak talking to nothing?_

He goes back to his bed, he would figure this out tomorrow.

He laid his head down, having a well deserved rest.

He dreamed strange dreams.


	8. Chapter 8

" _You can't keep doing this Luc. Your gift only tricks your mind to thinking you're not dying, you can only delay for so long." the scientist said in a troubled tone. "If you keep this up, your life expectancy will half itself, probably more. The…..won't listen to me, and you won't either."_

" _They need me, all of humanity is counting on us. I must keep going for those that couldn't."_

" _What would_ she _say? Have you told her yet?"_

" _In time…Not just yet, not yet…"_

The coughing returned, he almost thought his body forgot about it. But the fit wasn't as bad as before, not much blood this time. He had made himself quite accustomed to his daily routine in the haven. He would wake, then train. There wasn't much else to do that the Den Mother trusted him to do, as he walks out to his own personal piece of land to build his strength, he thinks about how he was a failure when it came to supporting a community.

" _Take this." A women hands him a bag that smelt horrible. "Spread it over the crops." And so he did, as best he could. He wasted so much of the 'fertilizer' that the farm woman had taken it from him and forced him off the crops. This was something mind reading couldn't help with._

He lays on the ground, and begins pushing his body up and off the ground with his arms. Laughing at how the Den Mother had called him in to ' _Cook and clean'_ and not five minutes later called him to _'Just wipe the floors'._ (He had burned his first couple of meals, but his next few were better, but the chefs didn't want him around anymore at that point). Cleaning floors was better, but the other cooks didn't make much mess, and they had called him ' _Next to useless'_ at that point _._ So the Den Mother dismissed him from duty, telling him to occupy himself until she found something more appropriate for a _freak._

You had to give him some credit, he never really cooked often in the city and he had never farmed in his life. But this didn't matter to anyone here, he had to learn fast, or not at all. _Something I need to improve on,_ he thought to himself.

The mind was a powerful thing, but nothing if he couldn't put it into practice. So as he looked innocent enough training his body, his mind was somewhere else, which helped relieve the aching sensation in his bones. He would read the minds of any other passerby's, even others that trained together in small groups. He didn't feel like joining them in exercise, he was content on his privacy.

' _Hot day'_ most would think. Others thought about ' _How many sets does he do a day?_ when they watched him push himself passed what most people would consider the breaking point for a city boy like him. As long as he didn't trick his mind for to long, he could walk away doing more than anyone would think possible. But of course, his arms felt like melting jelly when he was done.

A few whiskers of white hair began their growth from his neck and face after a few days, he tried asking for a razor. ' _Not on my life'_ most would say, but he didn't need them to tell him, only _think_ of them and he would know where one is.

But during one of his breaks, (Sitting around in his cell thinking) Phoebe came to him in a hurry.

"Luc, Addylin…the Den Mother wants to see us. You specifically." she tells him.

"Let us go then." They ran off towards the armoury they visited before, Addylin awaited next to Dave, who was once again tinkering with the two-tooth gadget, this time without Steve (who had disappeared from sight for a while).

"We figured out what this thing you brought in is, care to explain Dave?" the Den Mother gestured to Dave to speak.

So he held in the air, as if it was his own prized possession. "This thing, we like to call it an _amplifier_ of powerful psionic energy. It seems to radiate an invisible energy field whenever a biochip ADVENT uses goes near it." He demonstrates with a crude chip Luc recognised from the city. He closes the distance between the amplifier and the chip, and small waves could be seen pulsing from between the two teeth. A buzzing sound accompanied the shimmering waves as if in sync.

"Hear that buzz? It's obviously broken, it should be buzzing frantically if it was fully functioning, we could tap into it, if we had an alien that uses it. Unfortunately, we don't take prisoners…Right Mother?" They all look to her.

"They would kill us all if they had the chance, this thing is useless. I will have it thrown away far away from this place, it could be tracked." She turns and faces Luc. "I hope your plan wasn't to bring aliens here, you wouldn't know anything else about this thing you found? Where was it?" she asked.

"In some town, it was…on the ground." But he knew this was a lie, yet he said it as true as could be.

"I will have this thing thrown out, or destroyed. I can't risk the haven any longer. Do it Dave. In the meantime, I have something you could probably do well with _freak._ You too Phoebe."

Luc felt much sorrow when he saw Dave walk off with the amplifier, like a part of himself was taken from him. But he couldn't say anything, for he knew no more.

"What exactly will I be doing?" Luc asked.

"Something you might handle, _scouting._ "

"Scouting what?"

"If you shut your trap for a few seconds I will tell you." Luc looked down slightly, not answering. She picks up a bag with two wires extending out of it, handing it to Phoebe, along with a rifle. She picks up another few objects off the table and gives them to Luc. He expected something similar, but was disappointed.

She held a pair of binoculars, he took it slowly.

"What about something to protect myself?" he asks.

She gives him a bottle of bug repellent. "This should help." And Phoebe held back a laugh. A small _snort_ escaped her nose.

"Thank you _very_ much." he says sarcastically as he takes it into his other hand.

"Careful!" She almost yells. "It's worth more than you. Now follow Phoebe, she knows where to go. Be back on time OK?"

"Yes, Den Mother," Phoebe responds, they both turn to Luc expectantly.

He sighs. "Yes, Den Mother." he responds robotically. And they leave through a second gate in the wall, this time heading towards the grasslands, Phoebe had supplies in her bag, mostly water, which he should deserve _Ungrateful, or maybe I am._

Luc would admit that travelling across green grass was a lot better than sand or dust. But the downside was the constant bugs that flew around his face seemed to bug him more than usual. But he was better off the Phoebe, she would make small sounds every time a large mosquito would come near her. _'Eeek!'_ or _'Gah!'_ could be heard every few minutes.

"God damn…Gah!" she said for the eighth time. "The heat, its literally killing me!"

Luc had been in mid motion of placing the repellent upon his face. It helped with the bugs, but also the weak willed creatures could be easily forced to leave him.

"The Den Mother gave me this bug repellent!" he didn't need to force his happiness in his voice. "Man, isn't she great? I should thank her again."

Phoebe continued to swat her face. "Pass us some will you? Please?"

He hums for a moment. "No, I don't think so."

 _Eeek!_

He laughs. "Thought having bug spray was funny back at the haven? Well your right, it's _hilarious_."

She un-slings her rifle and points it at him, her face twitching from the insects that flew around her. They both froze. But only one of them was surprised.

"You ever fire that at someone before?" he asks, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah." She lied.

He turns his head as if to say _really?_ She lowers it and steps towards him, holding out her hand. "Please."

"Hmmm, no." He walks past her the way they were going before. She runs up to him.

"Please Luc, I… _Gah!_ "

Luc had enough amusement for one day, he tossed her the bottle without looking, without stopping. "Fine."

They now walked side by side, Luc dismissed all the nearby bugs, leaving Phoebe out of her torment.

"Care to tell me what we are doing?" Luc pondered.

"Well, there is this factory thing we have to report back to the haven." She gestures behind her. "It's alien, and we need to scout it out. Know what comes in and out, you know how scouting works?"

"Sure. Now how far away is it Pheebs?"

"Uh, yeah, were nearly there 'Snowy'." Luc stops, and looks at her, she was on his left, she stopped as well.

"No?" she asks.

"No."

They walk on for an hour and a half. Onto a large hill that was swamped with many trees, providing much concealment for them on the peak. On top, a vast view of an open field that looked recently deforested presented itself. A giant circle of branches and logs that looked as if a giant stamp had pressed down into the forest. Inside this circle, was a dirt road that lead into the forest. But on the other end was four deep black buildings, with red neon lines around the edges.

"That's ADVENT alright." He crouches down, Phoebe was to his right now, and she lay on the ground, taking out the radio device from her bag.

"They come and go in trucks, we count them, and report anything else, you have the bino's. You tell me anything you see. Got it?" Luc nods in understanding. Bringing them up to his eyes.

He relayed what he saw, The windows were not glass, but red lasers that cut from the silver frames from the left side to the right. Most of the buildings were two stories high, but one was three stories. He saw many troopers surrounding the perimeter, there was no fence, only lines of troopers every twenty or so meters. Squads of three or four troopers, accompanied by Angelko's (He did not see Ana, only the 'clones' she described) or red variants of humanoids. _The captains, or other officers_ is what he concluded. These squads patrolled the forest edge, looking into it sometimes, but never really paying much attention.

They moved cautiously around the forest line to see the other side of the facility. Around ten or so troopers lined the perimeter. Clearly they didn't expect anything out here, yet it would be hard to attack regardless.

After a few hours. They were about to head back, it was almost sundown. But as they started to leave Luc could hear the distant sound of engines.

"Wait up, hear that?" He looks back at the dirt road, some fifty meters away.

"No, what is it?"

But she had heard it a second later, Luc hit the dirt, with Phoebe following suit. He glanced at the road, three trucks rolled towards the facility, a small _humming_ sounded above.

Luc mouthed the word _gunship_ to Phoebe, she slowly nodded. The convey rolled in without delay, the gunship landed on top of a building, while the trucks pulled up near the front guards, who engaged in chatter and exited the trucks.

He brought up his binoculars and got a better look. The drivers and guards were all identical, they went to the back truck doors and opened them. Small cylinders lined the inner truck. Which had the ADVENT logo pasted on the fronts.

It only took a second before he remembered these things, they were the _pods_ from Isa. Or from somewhere else in the country.

"Let's go Luc, before it gets dark."

She went on ahead, he stared a minute longer before following her back, something about them was familiar, not the way they looked. But the thoughts he could just about hear, but it was very distant, had he gotten closer he could find out. But the aura they gave off was unusual, something told him he must find it out soon. Luc ran off back to the haven.

-XXX-

"Pods? Filled with people? They won't last long." The Den Mother said while tinkering with the radio relay. It was night, but the relay gave off a bright light.

"Why is that? Where do they go?" Luc asked.

"They don't leave, that's what I am afraid of."

"We must find out what they are doing." Phoebe pipes up.

"Obviously, but not yet, we need to scout more, but you did good, even for you _freak._ You can do something right at least." ' _Even if a monkey could do the same'_ she said under her breath.

Phoebe bids goodbye. And left him and the Den Mother alone.

"Still standing around? Get lost." She didn't look up at him.

"Where is Steve?" he asks. He hadn't seen him since his conversation on the hill, not ever since.

"Don't know, don't care. Find him yourself."

"Last I saw him, he talked without the accent, he said strange things, he's hiding something, he said he was 'blending' with you…" But she interrupted him, clearly annoyed at his intervention on her work on the radio.

"He gets drunk, he was probably pissed, he's as weird as they come, but he's friendly and useful. Something _you_ should learn to be." She crosses her eyebrows in anger. "Now, is there anything else? I want to be alone."

"When did he come here? Tell me about him, I want to know."

She clenches her fists. "You ask a lot of questions." Then she took a deep sigh before continuing. "The last guy to walk in this place uninvited was you. But Steve was before you, many years ago. He came on the brink of death, we nursed him back to health. He told us of a place with bountiful weaponry. Most of it is in the armoury. That was his…'Initiation', just like yours was to go to that water filter."

"Seems like his initiation was easier than going into a giant rock filled with _bugs._ Just to get some filter."

"I didn't know of the bugs, but that doesn't matter anymore." She returns to typing. "Do me a favour, and get lost."

"But, do you trust him?"

"With my life. Go."

Luc lingered long enough, he couldn't push her any further than that. He turns in to his room, _it's_ _more like cell._ He would search for him tomorrow, he didn't like him one bit.

Not one bit.

-XXX-

' _You will return.' Filled his dreams._

-XXX-

"Steve!" Luc ran over to the gate, Steve was on the wall near the gate, looking out into the grasslands, he climbs the ladder up a fairway, appearing near Steve atop the wall. The ladder groaned under his weight.

"Right mate? Need som'in?" Steve's legs dangled over the edge of the wooden wall.

Luc stood behind him, eyes locked on the back of his head. "What the hell were you talking about the other day?"

He turns his head back at him. "You be'in a whacker ta me?"

"I'm afraid I am." But someone walked nearby below them, neither of them spoke, when the man walked by, Steve stood up to his full height. It must have been seven foot or more. He was a monster of a man.

"Rubbish!...You needn't say no more _Mysir._ Lest they catch onto us _._ " Steve looks around slowly.

That word again. _Mysir._ He was the one, the mysterious message left in his bag.

"You put those things in that bag when I left for the filter. Why?"

A small dangerous smile painted Steve's face, it made his voice much slower, the smile didn't go away when he talked. "I couldn't let you wander without some help. Now could I? It matters little, we must be swift."

Steve jumped onto the ground, as if the ladder never existed. "Come." he says. Walking gracefully for such a big guy. Luc felt nervous, but followed. If he acted like this near others, he would be able to prove his point to the Den Mother.

They made their way to the armoury, Luc cautiously followed. They stopped outside the armoury doors. Near them was the relay, and the Den Mother was occupying herself, talking to someone on the monitor, but he couldn't see due to the angle. Her hands were upon her hips.

"What is it?" Luc asked Steve. But the coppered figure of the man said nothing, he just stared at the Den Mother endlessly, Luc joined him, listening on the conversation she partook in.

"..on the local comms. ADVENT's been quiet lately…" she was saying. But Luc was distracted by something, he concentrated hard on the distraction. It was a noise, no, _multiple_ noises, at a distance.

"We plan to." she said as if answering to whoever she spoke to. "Our water purification system is fixed for now. We had some _freak_ help us out…" But she trailed off, looking at the screen in mild confusion.

Luc focused more on the noises, they were closer, and they were _humming._

"Addylin!" he called. Running over to her, she was frantically typing on the pad, and on the screen was a spectacled man. He recognised him, the one on the news sometimes. Thick spots on his neck, always wearing black. _The Speaker_ he remembers his name.

The screen fuzzed and changed to a new face. Another recognizable face, the one belonging to the man he knew as _Central._ Yet he looked revitalised since he last saw, a large image of the world was behind him.

"Got incoming on approach!.." He was gone the next second.

"Your signals breaking up!" the Den Mother says, slightly worried.

"Addylin! _They're_ coming!" Luc almost shouts.

"Shut it Luc, I will deal with this."

But he didn't care, he ran to the armoury, grabbing a small shotgun and an ammo bandolier filled with shells before coming outside again. Steve stood motionless through all of this. Not caring or worrying about a thing.

He nudges the guards at the door with an elbow each. "Eyes up!" he said. But they simply looked on like stupid kids.

"Losing you _Avenger_ …" Addylin raises her hand and adjusts the small antenna near the terminal. Luc heard the humming get louder now. He could see the source, four ADVENT ships, no bigger than a large car, came over the crest of the nearby hill.

 _Move!_ He projected this thought. Imagining the word take physical form and storming the ears of all around him. It was as if his mind shouted for him. This resulted in the turning of some heads towards the ships. Once they had cast eyes on them, they scurried like ants, pushing and clawing their way to safety. The ships flew overhead, troopers on the sides fired down on them, but not at _him_. He ran for cover just as they fired upon the relay, it exploded, sending the Den Mother flying with it, it must not have been stable to be destroyed so easily.

He pushed his way to Steve, the guards fired back, but they were fighting an uphill battle. "Let's go!" he yells to Steve, who had not moved an inch in the chaos.

Steve offers a hand, but in his hand was the amplifier from before, it had a small purple glow that surrounded it. "Here." Luc takes it. The purple grew slightly brighter, the amplifier was connecting to him. It had its own mind, it was _deadly_.

As they stood there, several other explosions filled the air, leaving smoke clouds to thicken the air with a dusty blanket. Some of the trees were on fire, and troopers already began sweeping and shooting anything they could as they walked by.

Steve smiled. And he cracked his neck at an odd angle. His arms followed suit, he collapsed to the ground. Luc took a step back, oblivious to the troopers killing the people behind him, he was focused on the body of Steve in front of him.

Steve's flesh tore through his cloths, it was gooey, like pink slop. It snaked its way all over his crimpled form, growing twice in mass. The flesh would fold with each stretch and _snap_ of bones he could hear. Then _it_ rose, spewing some of the excess flesh out as it rose in height, it blinded Luc, he wiped his eyes. When he could see again, he was slightly drenched in the pink flesh. But what he saw was a much bigger problem.

A massive figure, made of folded flesh and stood on a pair of clawed legs looked down to him. It rose its taloned hands at him. Its eyes were aflame with a deep hatred. It spoke to him in the voice of Steve.

 _We shall strike them down to where they belong once again. Lead me Mysir. Lead us into the fray._

The sound of a slug shot stopped the thought speech. Followed by a _shuk-shik._ The thing he once called Steve had a large gaping hole in its middle body. Its eyes grew wide, then tired. It tumbled backwards and lay on the ground, sprawled over the grass. Luc lowered his shotgun, placed the amplifier in his belt, and ran towards the fray, alone.

He replaced the empty chamber of the shotgun with another slug. Again another _shuk-shik_ filled his ears. He collided with a wall and peaked around it. A lone trooper shot a bullet into a figure on the ground, a figure to small that no one could ever fire a weapon at and not have second thoughts. The trooper looked at him, he used a split second to read its mind. _Why does he look like that?_ It wondered, but Luc paid that no mind.

Its thoughts ended a moment later, its mouth agape due to the hole in its chest. _Shuk-shik._ And another shell replacement was done. The trooper collapses next to the figure, a small boy, barely a teen. Luc walked away a moment later, not wanting to stare.

There was little gunfight that could be heard, the battle was one sided, they had weapons, but lacked any training. The guards from before disappeared into the dusty mist, they would be lucky to live for long.

" **Bola nel…** " he heard someone cry, this was followed by a scream. Luc ran towards them, he could barely see five meters in front of him. The _humming_ had stopped now, perhaps they landed or took off again, it didn't matter which.

The scream whaled again. He could feel the panicked thoughts of _Phoebe._ He saw her a moment later, she was pounding the face of a trooper with a balled fist. The trooper screamed, crying out in suffering. As Luc approached, Phoebe swirled her head to him. She went for the ground, searching for a weapon.

 _Calm yourself._ He projected his thoughts to her racing mind. She slowed down a moment later

" **Tel…dir** " The trooper raised a finger to its ear. But Luc slapped it away, slamming the butt of the gun down on its face.

"Oh my gosh Oh my gosh Oh my gosh…" Phoebe said in a calm yet fast pace. She stared at the ground, eyes not blinking, only her mouth moved as she sat on the ground with a bloody hand.

"Come on Pheeb's." Luc holds out his hand, but she didn't react, she still said the same words in infinite loop.

He shook her, gently, then forcefully. He even slapped her once. But she was petrified, nothing was going to work on her. He tried one last thing.

He closed his eyes, traced her thoughts to her mind, and flooded her thoughts with his own. Almost like he had done with the creature in the mountain. She slowed, but didn't stop. _The amplifier_ he thought. He grasped the amplifier in two hands. Pointing it at her, then himself. _How does this work?_ He heard less fighting, he had to act fast.

In his right hand he held the amplifier, his left looked like it grasped an invisible ball. His hands tensed when he moved his hand to between the teeth, a ball of pure purple appeared between them. He looked into it, a small vision came to him only for a moment.

 _Phoebe stood, calm as ever, ready for battle. Her mind was calm again._

Without thinking, he tossed the energy around her. His thoughts coated her own. She closed her eyes for a moment. She stood up, as if she hadn't had a small fit of panic. She takes a long breath before opening her eyes and looking at him.

"You alright?" he asked.

She nods slowly, calmly. "Yeah."

They ran for the armoury, the door was blocked with a small bench. Luc heard the thoughts of two people inside. He vaulted inside and followed the thoughts to the source. A women and a child, the kid was barely ten years old, the woman had her arms wrapped protectively around the small girl. They both jumped when he found them underneath a table in the corner.

"Please. Please. My…" the mother said.

"Quiet, don't move." Luc stood up, Phoebe was looking out the window into the dust.

They both barricaded up the door they entered and flipped any tables and chairs they could find. The table of weapons was slightly less full, but it didn't matter, they would have enough to hold off for a while.

The window had a metal grate along the whole inner side, but the door was the most blocked, furniture and tables made it so only a portion of the outside dust could seep through.

He was crouched behind a small 'U' shaped desk. Eyes on the door. Phoebe was behind a pillar, slightly behind him to the right. Both of them had pocketed some grenades, and Phoebe had laid some weapons nearby for her own convenience.

They made no sound, no breath escaped them when many footsteps sounded at the door.

" **Lin del…** " someone said.

 _Brace yourself_ he thought to Phoebe. She complied obediently, as if the voice in her head was her own, she hunkered down low not a moment too soon. As a small explosion tore through the window. Two troopers ran in, sweeping the room with their guns.

Luc fired at one of them, wounding it greatly, it crouched behind a table near the hole in the wall. Phoebe sprayed down the other with her own ADVENT rifle, and it fell to the ground.

Through the gaping hole of the wall. A red trooper stood, a small red cape dangled behind it. Its helmet was bigger, but its mouth could still be seen.

It pointed to them, and ran to the wall for cover. One additional trooper could just be seen on the opposite side of the hole as well.

The wounded one fired at Luc, though only a few meters away, it hit the table instead. The red leader shot at the pillar Phoebe was behind, she returned fire a moment later, spraying many bullets into its side, it was in pain, but not enough to keep it down.

Luc grabbed a grenade, lifted the pin and waited a few seconds. He threw it at the wounded trooper in a low arch, a satisfying explosion was his reward. He readies himself. _Shuk-Shik._

Behind the leader, two more troopers began firing from behind burned trees and boxes. Just barely seen in the dusty fog.

The one who hadn't fired had ran inside, intent on rushing them. Luc pulled the trigger and vaporized the side of its head. _Shuk-Shik,_ and he returned to cover.

The captain sprayed its weapon, and raked the rooms walls from one end to the other. Pinning them both down, giving the others precious time to readjust. Either the leader couldn't stop or didn't, as its gun _clicked_ after it shot the last bullets at them. One more trooper entered the room, and one outside stacked on the holes edge.

Two more troopers could be seen in the dust, closing in to help seize the armoury.

Part of Phoebe's leg disintegrated into red spray. She hadn't been in cover, or was just unlucky, but she still stood up, ignoring the red wound that scraped her knee. She had one of those _M-16_ rifles in her hands, she was duel wielding two of them. She raked the walls as well, her arms snapped into awkward arcs, the recoil must have been unbearable. As she only managed to hit and kill one of the ones outside the wall before running out of ammo.

Luc fired his shotgun twice, the leader bent over on the first shot, and fell on the next. But this was all for nothing. Four more figures appeared outside, firing at his position.

"To many Pheeb's!" he yelled, his shotgun made another _shuk-shik_ as he said this. "There's not a back door is there?"

"Nope!" She reloads her twin rifles. _Were so dead_ is what she was thinking.

"Don't be like that! I'm sure were gonna be fine..." He looked outside, another four figures started to appear. _Maybe not_ he thought in distress. They couldn't keep this up, not with this many of them.

"I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die…" Phoebe kept repeating over and over. He thought the same, but had to face the fact of being outnumbered would be the end for them no matter what.

But the four new figures didn't fire at them. They shot at the _troopers._ They were equally surprised at seeing the new fighters, perhaps the guards had regrouped and had come to help take the armoury back.

Combined with Luc and Phoebe and the four new fighters, ADVENT was short lived, with the four new fighters delivering all the killing blows. And once they were gone, all was silent again. Both he and Phoebe walked to the hole, guns lowered. But Luc headed back and got the woman and child out of hiding before he did.

"It's over." he said. "We are saved."

He helped them up, they were both unharmed, and they shadowed him as he exited through the hole. Phoebe was talking to one of the figures, the other three were crouched around, making a small perimeter, guns at the ready. Luc wiped away the pink goo off of him before continuing. A small hissing sound was near Phoebe, a white gel was coating her knee.

As he approached the main figure, the dust cleared. Revealing a short curly black haired man, with slightly caramel skin that could be seen from his arms. The rest of him was covered in thick Kevlar, so thick it looked to weigh more than he did, yet he didn't look weighed down by it.

The figure turned to him. They were both equally shocked.

"Luc?" his familiar voice asked.

"I…I thought you were dead."

He was close, the dust parted, revealing the rest of the man, it was none other than Kurt himself, he had a few scars, but he looked the same as ever.

"You son of a…" But Kurt interrupted him, he gave him a great bear hug. Luc returned it gratefully.

"Your were dead Luc. I saw the explosion…" Kurt asked, not letting go.

"Please let go." And Kurt did just that, but he looked worriedly at him, his face was of great concern after a moment of joy.

"Your…your eyes. Hair…what happened to you?" Phoebe looked at him as well. "Green to purple, what happened?" he repeated.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you man. Even I don't really know."

But they were all interrupted by distant engines. Luc thought another ADVENT ship had come. But Kurt and the others didn't move, a small ship parted the cloud of dust above them. It was grey, with small yellow lines around its design. It was familiar to him, he had seen it before.

The gunship landed onto two flat skids, a small door slid off the back of the ship and made a ramp. Three more people walked out, only one man was recognisable.

"Central." Luc states, he turns to him in surprise. Then caution.

"Your face, it's..." Central began but stopped a moment later, he raised his hand to his ear.

"You getting this _Commander?_ " Central says not looking away from Luc.

They are all silent for a whole minute. Luc feels all eyes on him, he never really liked being the centre of attention, but he kept his eyes forward, not moving at all.

Central steps towards him, he looked ready to fire his pistol should Luc make a move.

"Come with us, your to see the Commander immediately."

-XXX-

A short ride on the human gunship was filled with a hollow silence, Luc sat on the font chair, about six chairs (three on each wall) were filled with people, the woman and child shared one, the other fighters filled three, Phoebe had one next to him, while Kurt and Central stood. Two people were left behind for some reason. They had large crates with them, _probably picking up the pieces_ he thought.

But the half hour or so trip wasn't filled with a single word, most gave Luc odd looks, Phoebe included. But what bothered him was Central's face when he saw him. Sure he was a little different, but no need for concern. _So much for a reunion._

He heard the twin jets on the gunship change direction, and the ride came to a stop, they had landed.

"Follow me Luc, the rest of you go with 'Nox'." Central says, pointing to Kurt. Who took Luc's amplifier with a regretful face.

Central leads Luc down a large hanger, he could feel there were off the ground ever so slightly, guns lined the right wall. Where Kurt (or Nox) and his team started to lay there guns on the wall racks.

Central went through an open doorway in the far metal wall. They then climbed a ladder to the next higher level. When they emerged they were greeted with a large control hub. Many men and women scanned the many monitors and typed away at terminals. In the centre was a large globe of the planet, spiralling peacefully. The people on the terminals gave him long stares, one even _nodded_ to him. But he and Central ignored them and went up a set of stairs on the back wall. A sturdy door was up on the top steps.

"Go on." Central says, and at that, the door slides open. Luc read the room, no thoughts he could sense, he entered slowly, and the door locked behind him, he was alone, and all was silent.

Three seats of furniture in a small arc were in the centre of the room. All were around a small table which had nothing on top of it. The walls were filled with many interesting things, he walks along the wall while examining them. A painting of people wearing armour, looking heroic. A small set of shelves, lined with books. A torn red flag with an odd symbol. A small shotgun and a large blank blue screen.

He returns to the bookshelves, he couldn't remember the last time he saw books like this. They were made of paper, real paper. Some were crinkled with age, the corners of the pages were slightly rotten. He pulled one out randomly, he never heard of the title before, but he read the pages with curiosity in his eyes.

"Enjoying yourself?"

Luc whipped around, no source of the voice could be seen, he places the book back. He looked with his eyes and mind. Still nothing he could sense or see.

"Have a seat."

The voice was robotic, neither masculine nor feminine, but the source was still hidden, but it was in the room.

"A seat, have a seat."

After looking around once more, he complies. Sitting on the light blue cushion of a chair in the centre. It was soft and warm, something he always took for granted in the city. He rested his arms beside him, his heart was pounding in his chest.

"Now tell me. Who are you?"

The voice came from his right side, the screen wasn't blank anymore, a thin line ran across the middle of the screen.

"Your name, please." The line moved in sync with the voice, up and down with each word.

He shared it with him, not taking his sight from the screen.

"I must thank you Luc, you helped save my life, my eternal gratitude is yours."

Luc's mind stopped. A sudden anger overcame him.

"All I get is your gratitude? A lot of people died to get you out of there, good people. And I don't even know if you were worth it at all."

The voice was silent, when it spoke after a minute, it maintained a friendly tone.

"I understand your anger, Kurt told me about you, your life in the city, but don't you think we all need to know what the aliens are doing to us all? What you have seen in that city must be spread across the world."

Luc reached into his pocket, and placed the small chip on the table. "There, it's all in that."

The voice was slightly surprised, and a bit more joyful.

"My, you impress me Luc. I will have this looked into if you speak the truth. But I need to know more about _you._ If you want to join us."

"Join you?" he asked. "Just like that?"

"Indeed, you have nowhere else to go in this place. ADVENT wants your head, the haven is destroyed. I am your only escape from this place."

Luc had to agree, this voice of the Commander was right. But he had many questions for this person, if it was a person.

"You a robot?" He looks around the room.

"No. I am flesh and bone. I use these screens to see more than my eyes can."

"Who exactly is _us_?" He steps up and walks to the screen with the line. But Luc had a good idea what the answer would be.

"We are XCOM, what you did in New Isa is what we do across the world, I have been locked away for too long. I am here to take back what is ours. I did this long ago, I will do it again, do it _right_ this time."

The voice paused before continuing.

"But back then, our soldiers were modified, twisted, turned into what I thought would be the best of the best, I had MEC's, Psi Op's, and genetically modified every human into monsters. But they all came in as human as could be. But not one was modified before they joined up. But that has just changed, thanks to _you._ "

"Me?"

"My old Psi Op's, they could project their thoughts without even thinking. And I can feel yours doing the same, just like them. Never thought I would see a natural like you."

He didn't realise his thoughts are so loud, he tried quieting them, but didn't know if it was working.

"I can train your gift Luc. But you must tell me how you got those eyes and hair, and were you got that medallion."

At that moment, the medallion hummed then spoke. _Trust_ is all it says in the same voice.

"It talks?" The voice said.

"I'm as surprised as you are, it only talked once before now."

"Tell me, tell me everything."

Luc was drawn to the voice, it wasn't the voice of someone with evil intentions. _Then again, its robotic._ He would tell it about Ana. He would be labelled a collaborator, but he didn't care, Ana was his friend, and he would prove it.

From the day he joined Indira, to her death, to the desert, to the haven. He told it everything, almost never stopping to breathe. He included Ana, how she told him of her species. They're discoveries of the 'Exalted' men, and how she helped him out of the city safely. But he couldn't tell the voice how he got his new found powers.

"I can't remember it, I do know what happened before and after, but not at that time." HE was slouching back in one of the blue chairs, one hand behind his head.

"Do you know how far away New Isa is from this haven?" The voice asks. Luc looked around before answering.

"How far?"

"Walking on your own in a desert, you shouldn't have made it through the first few days. But here you are, with no survival skills, and you lived through it. Whatever happened when you got your powers, that's the reason your standing here today. I want you to recover those memories, I think we both want you to remember. But I don't know how we can do that quickly, it should come back on its own, hopefully."

Luc should have been dead. He didn't know the first thing about surviving in that desert, and he remembered his reflection on that mirror, and the Den Mothers voice. _You realise you're asking me to believe you walked over the whole desert, alone. Without a scar nor mark, not a speck of dirt in your bright white hair?_

"And this…Ana. An 'Angelko' you called her, she helped you get out?"

Luc nods. "You may think of me as some sort of sympathiser, well I am. To her kind, I trust her, she never lied to me, she never turned me in when she found out about me. She deserves better than what you want to do to any non human out there."

"Luc, I don't want to kill everything we come across, but every alien out there is hunting us. There's the smallest chance you will see her again, if that happens, what makes you think I would spare her?"

Luc thought hard about this. She had done a lot for him. But not for humanity. But he knew she was different.

"She didn't know about the people in the clinic. She wouldn't lie, I know this. She could have made it harder for you to be rescued on unification day. But she didn't, you got out, and she stayed."

"But you told me your attack was met with much more resistance from ADVENT, didn't the possibility of Ana betraying you cross your mind? You think she warned them? She might have."

"I don't believe you when you say that."

"In your blindness you told her you work for the resistance. Someone alerted them, was it her? You can't ignore that explanation.

"She wouldn't do that." Luc said with such loyalty, yet was he blind in his faith? He couldn't believe she would, _she would never…_

"You prove this to me. If you meet her again."

They were silent for a while after that. Luc thought about his blind friendship to Ana. _Not blind_ he thought, _I saw past what everyone thought of them. Of her…She told me humans treated her unfairly, are they wrong? Or right?_

"But now, you must prove your loyalty to _me_ and the _cause_. You and the girl were scouting the ADVENT facility in the forest? You both can join if you help us destroy it. Then we can learn more about your gift. Go back to the hanger, I will get the team ready."

Luc heads for the door, heading back down the ladder passed the globe again. _No rest I suppose._ He thinks as he sees Phoebe talking to Central, and Kurt behind her, putting back some ammo in his gun. (the three other soldiers from before were doing the same) . But the only other people in the hanger were the mother and daughter from the haven. The daughter had ran over to him and hugged his leg with a tight squeeze.

"Thank you mister." she says without letting go. He looks down at her, the mother walked over, smiling contently.

"I hope you both find someplace to stay. Away from this place."

They thank him again, and walk away, the mother rubbing the girls head.

"Special misses Luc?" Kurt had walked over and clapped his shoulder from before.

"Why don't you just go get f.."

"Hey! Not in front of the kid! Come on, we got a facility to destroy, I'll get your armour on…" And Kurt leads him to the stacks of weapons and gear.

"Where's my amplifier?" Luc asks.

"Your what?"

"The purple thing I was holding."

"Oh." Kurt pauses. "Down in engineering, you won't need that, just this." He presses an assault rifle into his hands.

It only took ten minutes for him to get ready, another ten for Phoebe. And they were off on the gunship. Flying back into the forest.

-XXX-

"Why do we have to go?" Phoebe asked Luc.

"We know the most about it. And to prove ourselves to them."

She looked confused. "Who is them?"

Luc sighs. "You'll figure it out."

-XXX-

It was late in the evening, the forest was incredibly dark, but just enough for the team of XCOM soldiers (and two rebels) to approach the clearing with good vision.

"You sure this is the best side?" Kurt asks.

"The Commander went over it, he is right." One of the other soldiers said behind a black face mask.

"I got a name you know." Luc says.

"Not yet." Is his reply.

They line themselves along the forest edge of the clearing.

"Stay behind us, cove us from back here, then move forward, got it you two?" A woman says to him and Phoebe.

"Yes." they say in sync.

The woman nods a few seconds later, as if on earpiece, and she, the other two solders and Kurt. Charge across the clearing to the buildings, they got halfway before they started being fired upon. Luc fired at the roofs, where many troopers were positioned. But as he and Phoebe fired, they couldn't hit anything at such a long range.

The brutal efficiency of Kurt and his team was astonishing, they knew where every trooper was, and they almost never missed a shot, but never got hit as well. They were coordinated by an unknown power, they didn't talk, or maybe they didn't need to.

"Do they..need our help?" Phoebe asked, amazed at the teams progress, they had already cleared the closest building.

But soon after she spoke, he heard a strong presence in his mind. One he had never heard before. It had potential to be deadly, even at this distance.

"Sectoid!" Phoebe pointed towards the next building. He follows her finger and sees one Angelko and a pink humanoid that she called the 'Sectoid'. And sure enough, its mind was as loud as a passing train. It raised its arm to its head, and thrusts its neck forward towards the XCOM soldiers. A scream followed, a man had run back towards Luc's position. Giving the 'Sectoid' clear sight to shoot the man down with a gun on its wrist.

"They do now." Luc said, he started sprinting into the clearing. One of the Angelko's ran off into the building, while the other fired at the soldiers. But the Sectoid stood stupidly idle as its mind was bombarded with Luc's own.

 _It had never felt anything like this before, its kind was the only one to assault other species with mental attacks, it wanted to know who had done this to it._ But Luc's rifle ended its thoughts before it could fulfil its last request.

The Sectoid fell, and the others made quick work of the remaining troopers and the one Angelko outside.

"Hey!" Kurt yells as he places a familiar explosive back on the wall of the cleared building. "This place is gonna blow! Put one in that building there!" He chucks a spare at Luc, his gaze was sent to the far building the Sectoid stood outside. He could feel the mind of another alien. One of the Angelko's…

He heads inside, but another mind had presented itself. He turned to one of the pods along the grey walls, it was closed, but he could hear something calling inside. Two buttons were on a panel nearby. Forgetting the aliens presence, he pressed the top one. And the lid slid open, revealing a glass interior, filled with green water.

The floating figure was what remained of the body of James.

"James…" Luc's voice faded, but James was awake, aware of him. "James, just… _Think_ of your voice, I can hear you that way. Just _think_ it."

 _Why? Can you hear me?_

His voice even in his head was still croaky and drained of life.

 _Yes. I thought you were still in the city._

 _I would be better off._

James was missing his legs, and his one arm dangled endlessly in the water.

 _They figured out what I knew, I told them everything. They knew the day, but not the time. They took it from my head, pulled my memories from me. I'm glad you are alive. How is Kurt? Indira?_

 _Kurt's fine. But Indira is dead. The clinic is gone._

 _I wish I could have died, perhaps she would still be alive if I hadn't been captured._

Luc thought nothing, said nothing. Ana wasn't at fault, it was _James_ who told them.

 _Kill me, I can't live like this._

Suddenly a memory of a voice filled his head, something from long ago. _Let me finally rest in the void. I can't live like this._ But the voice's source was still hidden.

Luc let out a breath he had been holding. _I am sorry James._

 _As am I._

-XXX-

The Angelko was close, her white scales went pale, almost matching her white vest armour. peering at the human from behind a desk, she was too young and hadn't fired a rifle before. She stared at the human, it was talking to the body inside the pod. _Thinking_ to it. The human turned and saw her staring at him. She thought it to be the end.

-XXX-

Luc saw the hiding Angelko behind him, placing the charge as he stared back at it , he brought the rifle up and aimed it at her. _She did it. She turned James into this thing. She did this._

He clutches the trigger, staring at her eyes, they were filled with terror, that much was obvious, he had to avenge James, _this is a start._ He thought cruelly.

The moment of the young Angelko's fate drawled on forever. _You're a killer_ the voice of the bug mother filled his head. _You killed my children, now you kill everyone._

His hands clenched into fists, he lowered his rifle slowly.

"Go." He never took his eyes off of her. "Just go." he sounded defeated. He left the building through the entrance door.

Running back into the forest. He met up with the rest of the team, Phoebe hadn't moved from her spot on the tree line. Kurt chucked a flare down and the gunship came back a minute later.

"Come on _Skyranger,_ enemy dropships inbound!" Kurt yelled as two dropships appeared over the buildings.

The Skyranger hovered above them a minute later, six ropes fell down from the ramp door, but only five were used before they flew off back to where they came from. He grabbed the rope firmly, and ascended up to the Skyranger, Kurt hoisting him up with a helping hand.

-XXX-

The young Angelko watched the human ship fly off. She went towards the forest as fast as her tail took her. She reached the trees before a massive explosion deafened her hearing. Great fire scattered and caught the trees, she was badly burnt, but she would live.

-XXX-

The Commander switched to a camera feed of the Skyranger in mid flight. Clearly Phoebe needed more training to step up on her game. He sent those two out there to prove themselves, the Psi Op did just that.

"Yes Commander?" A woman's voice was heard.

"Get whatever you need to make a psionic chamber, highest priority."

"Understood, should be done within the week."

-XXX-

"He was there?" Kurt repeated, his voice was now but a whisper. "He should have just been killed, tell me he's dead."

"I turned off the life support on his pod, he is dead, I am certain of it."

"I.." Kurt sighs, not finishing his words

Phoebe listened closely, clearly these people went through a lot, she felt slightly bad at the way he was treated in the haven, always on his own. Keeping his privacy, she could have spoke to him more, but she didn't. She didn't even join him when he ran towards the Sectoid. She would have to make amends for this. One way or another.

-XXX-

"You have to tell me everything, man. How did you get out of New Isa?" Luc asked as they stepped off the Skyranger and replaced their gear.

"I would ask you the same thing. Come on, we can talk while eating. I will show you around too. It's much better than living with a city of filled with _dumb_ aliens…"

Kurt walked off, thinking Luc was behind him still. But he had stopped, a sudden thought ripped into him. He drawn to his medallion hidden in his shirt. The hanger was all of a sudden empty, he stared at the medallions eyes, the dark eyes had now been alit with an unknown light, his sight closed in on it. He felt his eyes being absorbed into its own, and a fuzzy vision overcame his own.

 _Tropical jungle surrounded the land. Waves beat against the shore, his hands were now missing a finger each, and he wore black armour covering his arms. He held a beam rifle, aimed at a general lying in the dirt._

" _Your nothing but a tool to be discarded!" The ADVENT general yelled, a beam flew from the rifle, and the man went limp._

" _No, you're wrong." A voice not of his own replied._

Luc lay on the ground, the medallion went silent once more. Still no one was in the hanger, except for a voice, coming from a blue screen, with a thin white line.

"Are you OK?" The voice said.

"Just, need some rest…really tired." He gets to his feet.

"Of course, I have assigned you a room, go to the far hall. I'll have another screen down there."

Luc got up, moving after a moment of dizziness, he left the hanger. He wondered what that vision was of. _The future? Past? Or is it happening now?_


	9. Chapter 9

Her back was black as the night sky, but her face was orange like the sunset, the two colours intertwined halfway along her hood, where as her tail had the pattern like the earth animals called ' _Zebras'_. Both the black and orange stamped in thick lines up her tail to her body. She wore chest armour to cover her vital organs, her black arms were uncovered, the reflection of the lights could be seen upon them ever so slightly.

She looked back one last time to her human friend. Luc almost tripped on the tenth step into the sandy desert. But kept going on, shrugging it off like nothing had happened.

Ana looked back into the city, the smoke clouds lost their ferocity, growing smaller every second.

 _So much for stopping them._ She thought as she stared at the smoke that grew less thick.

Ana felt as if a part of her mind grew distant. But let it go as she walked back to the HQ (which was now unrecognisable). On the way the other humans got along with their lives, as if Luc's resistance hadn't made such a devastating impact on the ADVENT legion in the city.

She lingered around the front of the burning wreck of her temporary home. No troops issued her orders, no officers looked at her. From a distance, she looked lost, as if she were a hatchling that didn't know where she was or how she got there. She felt none of her kind nearby, she waited and waited, and she didn't know what for.

Eventually, she saw that a wounded trooper removed its helmet, it stood nearby her. Its head bled yellow blood profusely. Had it not been for the giant black iris' or the crimpled skin. It could have been a humans face. _Could_ have been. _Was._

The unmasked trooper was pushed aside, her Commander was the cause, he looked almost identical to the trooper, but his skin looked _slightly_ less leathery. Samuel still wore that smug yet pissed off look on his mangled face.

"Sitting around?" He said in a croaky, slurred voice. "How did you get through this without a single wound?" He gestures to the rubble around them.

She did not answer.

"Probably hid away in some corner begging for mercy." He tried to provoke her, but he was met with silence.

She still did not answer.

"Maybe you will talk to one of your own. Your Queen sent them. Follow me." He ordered, leading her into a small car, he sat in the driver's seat, while she rode shotgun.

A small escort followed them from behind. All the way to the airfield. When they pulled up to the airfields gates, a number of trucks had stopped outside the wall as well.

Small empty pods were being loaded into the trucks, but what was most interesting was a beaten tall human, under restraint by two troopers gripping his arms. Ana and Samuel had left the car, he must have noticed her looking to them. And walked over to the prisoner.

"How are you buddy?" The Commander had slapped the human. "You'll be right soon enough. Maybe you'll learn you can't run from ADVENT, can't run from your future. And maybe think twice before attacking me."

The beaten man spat a bucket of phlegm at the Commanders face. His face grew red with anger (Ana shared a smile with the beaten man). "I want him torn limb from limb! Make him live for as long as he can, I want him to suffer before he goes."

You had to admit, the stubbornness of the beaten man was admirable. They shoved him into the truck (being kicked by the Commander in the process) and slammed the doors. His fate was sealed as the doors locked from the outside.

Ana and the Commander continued on into the airfield

The trip on the way to the drop pads had no words spoken. Ana only spoke (and even then it wasn't with words) when they had walked onto a small air pad that had an armoured gunship on it, with two of her kind in front of it.

They had sensed her, Ana felt there slight presence for a while, probably how the Commander had found her.

They were both clones, not named, not anything. She felt better knowing she had one name to call herself.

"A2, our Queen calls to you." One of them hissed. Both of them were yellow and white scaled, nothing unique could be said about them. They spoke the High speech, a common language the coalition shared.

 _I know. Where and when?_ She asked through her telepathy.

"Now, near Indonesia." the clone said.

Ana hadn't realised her Commander was still stood next to her. "Talking with your mind ' _A2'_?Don't want me to hear you?" he said angrily. But he didn't give her time to answer. Even though she wasn't going to.

"Just get out of my city, be your _Queens_ problem. After all, no one will be here for long." And he stormed off, back to the car he took. The three Angelko's watched him go, not the least bit concerned.

"Let us leave A2." The clone rests her right hand on her left shoulder, the salute of old.

"For the Queen." Is its last words before it boards the gunship. Ana climbed aboard and gripped a railing above her head. Whoever piloted the ship had done so as quickly as they could. The side doors closed, and they lifted off in a matter of seconds.

Ana glimpsed out to the desert through the slitted windows. Not able to spot Luc, she stared at her own tail, dreading that her Queen did not have her turned over to the Elders, she didn't know what they would do to her. But she knew it wasn't going to be as pleasant (little as it was) as staying in Isa for a while.

-XXX-

It had been early morning when the ship landed on a small island, dense with jungle. The small clearing had dirt runways and pads rather than modern tarmac or cement. The towers and hangers around looked wooden and had been built quickly, some even looked recently burned and had been put out minutes ago.

The two clones had lead Ana into a small crevice in the ground. A single metal door was at the end of several steps.

 _The Queen calls you from below._ Although the clone hadn't need to tell Ana this. She knew perfectly well what awaited down behind that door.

 _Ka-Chunk_ the door swooped open at Ana's touch. It unhinged and revealed a dark room. She entered slowly, the dark shroud swooping over her.

"…assure you I speak the truth." Ana heard the Queen finish (in High speech no less). The room was lit with a magenta glow. The only source of light was a large hologram of an Elder. Its voice boomed with power.

" _I awaited your arrival long enough, A2."_ The voice dominated her hearing. Stood next to the hologram was Ana's Queen. She looked the same as when she was on the screen at the HQ in New Isa, but her face had changed to one of terror, that much she couldn't hide.

"My child, she came as fast as she could." The Queen spoke for her, Ana didn't dare interrupt, the Elder did it for her.

" _Let her speak, I don't trust your words no more."_ The Elders eyes behind the mask seemed to bore into Ana's. " _A2, tell me who you are. Speak."_ It ordered.

Ana had seen the Queen shrink at the question, she wanted to ask what the problem was, but the Elder could hear her, could hear anything, be it words or thoughts. She spoke her answer, a sad feeling came over her as she did.

"No one."

" _Then perhaps your Queen won't mind if I send you to the front lines to die? Is that so?"_ It turned its helmeted head back to the Queen. Her voice was filled with hesitation. "Of course, My..."

" _Your minds think alike, though insignificant, I can still feel your disloyalty. You lie."_

"I don't!" the Queen pleaded. "She means nothing! Is nothing! You must hear me…"

Ana stopped listening to her pleads to the Elder. As they debated about her. Ana felt herself grow smaller in the room. She hadn't been cared for, even by her own Queen. She had closed her eyes to block out everything. She thought about what the Elder said; _Send you to the front lines._ She decided to interrupt the confliction, consequences be damned.

"What front lines?" The two leaders looked to her, the Elder looked on in confusion, while the Queen was ashamed.

" _Our enemies return, we need all we can get. YOU are part of the solution, or so I thought._ "

"She is not who you think."

" _Then she will die, do you want that?"_ There was a shorter silence before the Queen answered this time.

"…Yes."

The Elder was unsure, he knew she would come crawling back to her if this 'A2' was sent to die, hopefully before she actually did meet her end. He risked it anyway.

" _A2, you will report to your new General, find him in the hanger nearby. Let us see who you truly are. You will be the rank of 'Ordinare'. You will be nothing short but on the front, taking the fight to our enemy. You will stay for at least a month, then you will return here. What say you?"_

"Your offer is to generous." Ana bows her head.

" _Truly? Then staying until the island is taken should be more suitable. What say you now?_

Not wanting to raise the demands anymore, she agrees.

" _This will be fascinating."_ The Elder fades, the glow disappears as well, the room returns into darkness, before lights come on automatically, making the dirt walls shine with a white glint.

"My child…" The Queen starts.

"Finish quickly, I have to go." Ana hissed angrily.

"The Elder would have taken you if I had shown I cared for you. He couldn't read my thoughts, but he could sense if I thought to you. Trust me, I wanted to tell you, I care for you more than _anything._ "

Ana didn't think the Queen would be pleading to someone like her. She wasn't lying when she told the Elder who she was. She was no one, a sad truth.

"My gift, you don't have it?" the Queen asked.

Ana looked down, she remembered the medallion, it was somewhere in the desert, dangling on a humans neck, she didn't voice these thoughts, instead she lied.

"I lost it."

The Queen looked worried.

"What?"

"I hope it isn't found." The Queen looks right into her eyes. "Its powerful, not just a meagre decoration for your throat. It was meant to warn you of the troubles ahead."

 _Troubles ahead?_ She shakes her head several times in obvious confusion "What do you mean?"

"The amulet, its more special than you think. Connected to the minds of our whole race, small warnings of desperate times invade your dreams. I had hoped you would dream of this moment, and prepare yourself accordingly."

She remembered the strange dream on the one night she had worn it, with her and Luc fighting alongside one another. She wondered what would happen to a human who wore it instead.

"Does it affect the other races?"

"Only Angelko's gain the effects."

A wash of relief ran over her as if she stepped through a gush of water. She couldn't imagine what would happen if a human could get this much power, let alone any side effects.

"I like to think of it as one of us, living, breathing. Quite beautiful, don't you agree?"

Ana did, though not entirely.

"But I am sad to see you leave me, probably for good this time." The Queen gives her a sad smile. "You must promise me, no matter what happens, you must _live._ For me…for all of us."

At that moment two troopers, escorting a general (who looked to familiar) had come through the heavy door.

The former Commander had the same smug look of Samuel.

"Ah, you're the unimportant addition to my legion? Your taking too long, so I thought 'Why not start right away?' We strike _now."_

Ana looked back to the Queen, she was about to ask _Why?_ Through psionic speech, but the Queen interrupted her, a wave of warning came over her. Telling her to not think in a Generals presence. (Close proximity thoughts could be read openly, even if they were different species)

"Promise me, my child. Promise me." The Queen said slowly, cryptically.

Ana paused before answering. "I promise."

"It will be short lived, now let's move, times a wasting." The General motioned to follow, and Ana obediently replied, slithering side by side the troopers.

The Queen watched on helplessly, knowing full well her entire species may be on the line. She silently wept when the room was silent, only the small drops of liquid hitting the floor made any noise.

-XXX-

 _Tip of the spear._ That was her place, being one of the countless _Ordinare's_ to be the first to set on the island that housed the enemy _Fortress._ She climbed aboard a drop ship armed only with a beam rifle with three clips, there were other's of her kind aboard, about seven in total. Only she was not a clone. But before she boarded she had seen others such as _Prime's_ and a few _Elite's_ that waited to take dropships several minutes after the _Ordinare's_ landed. They wouldn't want the experienced to get killed on the first waves of attack.

It was not just Angelko's who would assault the Fortress, Muton's, Surn-tal, and even a few K'yul were jumping on ships to assault the island (not to mention the countless human troopers with them). Even some of those machines of death were being prepared and loaded underneath some of the larger transports.

She had spotted a familiar Muton who wore black armour, it approached her, its form towered over her. It spoke High speech to her.

"I remember you well Angelko, it seems the fight has only just begun." It had said in a strong but serene tone.

"I wish to know your name before one of us may depart from this world." Its head was covered with a full face shield, its eyes were marked a grey glow.

"I am An…A2." She just stopped herself, forgetting her 'name' meant 'code' or 'designation'.

"AN-A2, I am Xida. I wish you fare in your charge." Xida turns to leave.

"No, just A2." Ana corrected, but Xida was already walking off out of earshot. She went her own way as well.

" _Know this. You shouldn't have promised your Queen anything. You're the lucky one, you are the first to set foot on that island, the tip of the spear. I'd nuke them from orbit, but it's a powder keg they sit on. And we need what they have. And you're going to get it for me. Or die trying. Which you probably will."_

The inspirational General gave her those last words before the drop ship lifted off and flew towards the Fortress. The tropical winds rushed into the drop ship like a vacuum. Ana saw many other ships, clones of her own, trail behind them, they all rushed about a hundred meters above the ground. All were in a 'V' shaped formation. And where the two lines of drop ships connected, the ship Ana gazed out of was located.

 _The tip of the spear._

The fortress had enough ammo and weapons to fend off any army for months, be it air, land or sea. They would kill anything a few kilometres out of the shore. And even then they had people ready to fight for the beaches. ADVENT could clone as many aliens as they could, but they would fight them off as if this island was their homes. They would fight for it.

 _To the last._

It didn't take more than one flak shell to spook Ana out of her thoughts, she could do nothing but hope that they would make it down to the island shores. Even then hope that she could secure some sort of beachhead, and even then…

Another flak hit the side of the hull, shaking the ship slightly. She held on the railing above her with a vice-like grip, as if clutching to life itself.

More shells around the ship seemed to pound with endless ferocity. The ships never changed course, they would head into the flak no matter the cost. Other ships fell into the water below, swallowing them whole, no one would live long in these icy waters.

One lucky flak managed to hit the inside of Ana's very ship, the explosion was deafening, the others that were closer had flailed and died from the impact, Ana's hearing would not return for some time. A constant ring filled her insides.

She could feel the ship slowly drooping lower to the ground, they were a few hundred meters out. But the ship maintained its height for as long as it could, the pilot did its job, it got the ship inland before eventually hitting the trees with high force.

The ship dragged its hull across the rough terrain. One long skid in the dirt followed the ships path, it finally stopped when it hit a large cliff face to solid for it to punch through.

Time seemed to drag on forever as Ana recovered her rifle and managed to gain back her senses. The air was filled with spent gunpowder, the use of old world guns was present in the air. She could make out the bass of canon fire in the distance.

Now holding her rifle at the ready, she takes one last look for anyone else, The pilot was dead (another trooper with the same armour as the ones before) and the other Angelko's were all but lifeless shells. She sets off to the canon fire on her own, not intent on dying just yet.

-XXX-

The trek through the tropics made the canon grow in noise, she was closer now, the top of a large gun could be seen just beyond the trees. Behind her a large old world fort loomed on top of a great cliff, it cast its deadly shadow over the south part of the island, the way she was going.

The canon was one of those old _Howitzers_ humans used to use during the war twenty years back, this one was perched on a large cliff, like a hawk it watched over the beaches down below. Every half minute it would fire, being reloaded by three men, who wore green combat suits, two had strange marks on their necks. Something was familiar about them.

The canon pounded at the beach, leaving large craters in the sand, some ships landed on the beach, only to be slaughtered by guns like these.

She must do her part.

Using the element of surprise, she had begun charging and firing from the concealment of the tropics. (Thought the beam left a green trail behind her shots, which countered her hidden position) The loaders hadn't been armed, and they died trying to claw their way to some guns laying nearby.

She examined the now deserted canon, she observed how they had placed shells into a slot, but touched a monitor to fire it. It had a good design of both old and new tech, this particular canon must be unimportant for it only to be guarded by three loaders.

Other canons could be seen further down the island. She looked closer at the monitor, an up-down map of the terrain of the whole island was seen. She looks once again to the distant canon. Slightly west, near a hill…

She estimates on the map where she thinks it is, and hits her hand on the spot, the canon turned on its own, small tracks rotated the gun towards the target, it fired, (it had not sounded loud, she was still slightly deaf) hitting the hill below, almost dead on the target.

But now she must load it, the shells were almost as thick as her tail (which she had to use in order to lift them, she looked rather awkward doing this) but had fitted nicely into a small slot. She did her best to copy what she had observed the loaders do. She loads the round with a satisfying _Ta-tunk._

Again she pinpoints a location she estimates is the next canon off to the east, the canon whirls around, and fires once more. The same result applied. Another smouldering ruin on another hill. The effects were instant, the beaches now had more ADVENT on them, including some of the giant bots from New Isa.

"All bombardment teams, C5 is targeting our own positions, target C5's position immediately." One of the loaders radios echoed in a calm voice of a man.

She didn't need any further warning, she went as fast as she could, the explosion of the canon sent her tumbling down the rocky slope. For the most part she was fine, a few scratches had caught her scales, most hit her arms, thick yellow blood left a trail behind her fall.

Ana brushed this off, her cold orange eyes didn't show the slightest of pain as she went back to the beach. The trip took quite a while, but it was uninterrupted.

The beach was now swarming with drop ships. It had seemed they had finally a foot hold on the island, she breaks through the jungle onto the sandy terrain, some Surn-tal sensed her, but the pink aliens only glared at her as they lowered their wrists.

All of a sudden, Xida appeared, along with other Muton's, (Green armoured, more clones) he had blood covering his front. Clearly he had hit the island hard as well.

"You fight well, though I didn't see it, they will think twice when positioning themselves next time."Xida says boomingly. He nods before interrupted by a large gunship that lands nearby. Both Ana and Xida look on to the occupants.

"Well, well, didn't think you'd make it _A2_." The General had stepped forward, arms out as if to hug them both. "Didn't think you _could._ "

Ana said nothing.

"Still not talking, you might as well…" Small gunfire could be heard nearby. The General flinched ever so slightly, but he looked on to the Fortress walls in the distance. "Never mind. If you plan on living, you might want to start talking."

The General scowled at his troops. "Get something set up here! I can't stand this heat."

-XXX-

It took hours for night to fall on the island of blood, gunfights ceased, critters in the jungles filled the air with their own voices. The moon loomed overhead of the beach. Just on the sands edge stood hastily made tents. Few lights were around, the ADVENT coalition tried its best to hide themselves from any humans that may stumble down near them.

Ana had busied herself by guarding the perimeter, she had a good view of the sea beside her, and the jungle felt so natural to her, almost like home. Her previous performance was not ignored, she was given armour for her tail, it was easy to slip in and out of. And the alloy was sturdy but could move with as much grace as her tail could.

Xida walked up beside her, canon in hand, his thick black armour made his form almost invisible in the night, only his glowing eyes could barely be seen. But her eyes were sharp, night didn't bother her sight.

"I bring news." Xida comes to a halt. "No longer must you watch nothing, we will go to them."

"We?"

"Indeed, several clones as well."

Xida looks to her, takes a deep breath before asking. "You have no name. Why is this?"

She was about to say, _Yes I do._ But she truly didn't have one, and the reason was lost to her.

"I don't know."

"You're no clone?

"No."

Xida enters deep thought, for several seconds all they could hear were the heavy breaths of Xida's mask.

"Let us go. Our unit awaits, I lead."

-XXX-

Combining the stench of death with the bugs of the wild, a simple patrol through the jungle to an enemy camp hadn't exactly gone swiftly.

Every few seconds, bugs would swoop down and pinch at their skins, both Muton and Angelko alike. They pieced the skin like small tiny daggers. Not even the reflexes of Ana could swat them before they absorb the blood in her arms. Even the exposed hands of Xida and the other Mutons weren't safe.

The enemy was poorly trained, they weren't the real threat on this island. The hand sized bugs killed many alien and human forces then bullets or beams. But the coalition was worse off, they hadn't spent anytime settling in to the foreign land. Clones were produced en masse in order to keep up the offence on the Fortress. And over the many nights the clones were lost to bugs rather than bullets.

It would go day by day of the same gruelling process. She and Xida would take a squad of clones and take enemy positions under the cover of night, only the two true aliens would return alive. At some point one of them began to question the fact that they would through any amount of force to archive victory.

Shad been in the process of attaching new pieces of armour to herself, two black alloy bracers covered her arms and hands. Which were covered in cuts and bruises, she was glad to cover them up. She was in a small tent with Xida, who cleaned his gun.

"We strike the humans down day by day. They bleed us thoroughly. We suffer greatly." Xida said as he examined the jungle floor outside. A small pile of corpses could just be seen taken away on a large trailer-like thing.

"Do they feel anything?" Ana had looked to a dead clone of her kind. "Do they know that they are replacing the replacers?"

"Do they feel anything?" She asked.

…

"Do _you_?" Xida countered.

Of course she did, she felt alive, she was an _original_ so to speak. She did not look like the others, not like her Queen, but not like the ones that died alongside her. She feels pain, she feels the world around her, she was real.

Was she?

"What do you mean? Of course I do."

"Then prove it, if you're not a clone like the rest. Prove that you're not an expendable tool like the rest of your kind." Xida said in an expressionless tone.

Ana took this to offense. "And what if you are a clone? How can _you_ prove that?"

"Simple. A name. Something you lack."

But she didn't lack it, she was given one, some time ago.

 _By a human, not your parents._ A voice in her head told her. Who was her parents? The Queen? They looked none alike, different colours…

"My Queen didn't want me here…"

"Yet here you are." Xida said bluntly.

She did give Ana up so easily, had her faith been misplaced? Her life was nothing until recently. If she was of the least importance to her Queen, then why was she in this middle of a jungle on some island?

 _Promise me, no matter what happens, you must live._

They may not have meant much to someone else. But the way she had said it. They were only words, but it was almost all she had left.

 _Almost_

She went back to rest in silence. And Xida left.

-XXX-

The Fortress walls were the last line of defence for the humans on the island. Deep trenches surrounded the walls of the old fort. Packed with aliens, it reminded Ana of the old earth wars, where humans fought over pieces of land that provided little value since what they fought for turned into nothing but dirt in the aftermath.

About head high the trench was, on her left, hundreds of Angleko clones lined the trench, facing towards the uphill no man's land ahead of them. To her right, a squad of K'yul stood awaiting, the pink slobs of their forms lurched over to avoid exposing their slick heads.

 _NOW!_

When the coward General called his orders from behind the front lines, all time seemed to slow to a standstill. As she crawled her way out of the trench, she slid behind those who got out earlier than her, they all charged head on into the line of fire from the slits in the old walls.

Streams of bullet tracers marked the paths of death to any they made contact with. The hundreds of muzzle flashes were an ominous sight. Yet she never felt more alone at that point, surrounded by walking husks that were as lifeless as the bullets that passed her.

Countless bodies tumbled, they were ready, the humans do well when it comes to this. She had remembered the old armies that fended them off until the last. Even back then they still killed thousands of aliens with only half of the numbers. Yet the amount of fallen aliens within the first few seconds was unbelievable. She was going straight into the fray, not many make it this far without at least a graze, but she was fortunate enough.

"Here!" Someone cried to her right. Behind an old artillery position was a lone familiar Muton, crouched behind slabs of brick walls, she didn't need another second as she zipped over at such high speed, she was beside him a moment later. Bullets breezed over head.

"Not cut down yet Xida?"

"Wouldn't fall this soon."

Machine guns chipped away at the cover they hid behind, Xida had a plan, nothing the General could think of.

"We will perish if we charge like the rest, there is another way." Xida looks on to the right side, near the beach a cluster of lower battlements of the fort were crumbling down. More clones were that way, less death.

"We go that way, no point on this part of the wall, we strike around them, help out the lifeless ones." Xida had replaced _clones_ with those last words, they both thought it was suitable.

They had taken turns in covering one another while they ran (and slithered) their way to the far side, Ana had noticed she needn't fire at the enemy as much, the lifeless ones were a big enough distraction.

The slanted battlements had big enough holes for the aliens to pass, the enemy within was having trouble keeping the alien flood at bay. Ana didn't need any effort in reaching the inside of the fort this way.

Xida fired two shots at a machine gunner, the first had hit its mark, the other destroyed the gun. The way was open.

"Let us go." Xida says lifting his rifle, reloading it to its full charge.

The inside was a lot different than from the outer walls, Ana expected old world barracks' and large training grounds. But what was instead small houses (there were barracks' but in low amounts) and fields of crops nearby. Clearly they had been sitting in the Fort for some time, but how long? The layout was similar to a small city or town, streets carved into the dirt ground. No vehicle tracks could be seen, yet footprints could. Perhaps thousands of people had once roamed these streets.

As she fought her way into the streets. (Xida pushed towards the walls, intent on flanking the machine guns) With more than a dozen other clones helping her. One house stood out to her. It had a large neon sign outside it. It read **DINE HADI DI** in bright red letters, it reminded her of the diners in New Isa, only the windows were covered in blood, a figure sloped down beside the door, rifle in hand. She closed of the sounds of bullets and beams and focused her senses while she stood near the door. Someone breathed heavily inside. She issues the others to search the other houses. Whilst she barges the door with her rifle (which felt on the verge of breaking) and the door swings inward. The chrome stools seemed almost polished. The booths were empty, but the breathing came from behind the metal bar.

For a type of diner, the size was fairly small. She didn't bother using the flip up door on the far side, she slid over the top, silent as a shadow, she landed with an almost inaudible _thud._ The breathing ceased. It was below the bar behind her. She peers underneath.

A small child cowers away from her gaze. The kid could be no more than ten. He had black hair, the strands met his shoulders slightly.

She looked deeply into the Childs eyes, they were glistening, the child had been crying. It trembled under her sight.

"Please…Don't." Was the only words that the child had spoken. But to have a child inside a Fort, the idea was insane. This was a war zone, no place for young. But yet here was one, hiding, perhaps the figure outside was a parent.

She left through the door she came without a word.

Xida had been watching the whole time, that much was obvious, he stood outside the doors, almost oblivious to the fighting going on around them.

"You didn't?"

"No."

He didn't need to say anymore, _You felt something, you know you did._ That is what he wanted to say.

At the moment she saw the Childs eyes, she felt something.

She hadn't felt like this for many years.

-XXX-

It didn't take her long to figure out that what the Fort was, it was no _Fort,_ it was a community, she couldn't get the images of the child she hadn't killed being dragged away by two K'yul. She had thought he would be better off If she had killed him then and there. But it was too late now, mercy killing is beyond her.

The Fort had fallen, she was awarded another rank, up to _Prime_ due to her and Xida's actions. The primes all wore small orange capes that draped behind her right shoulder, only an arm's length long. As far as she could tell, no prisoners were taken. Just the child, maybe there was more in here. She decided to follow the K'yul. There long fleshy arms had encased one of the boys shoulders each.

The child glanced at her for a moment before forcing itself to look away.

They had gone back to no man's land where they had to charge. Crossing the dead field filled with lifeless corpses. Only a few narrow paths were cleared for walkways between the piles of aliens.

The K'yul had not noticed her long tail rustling the leaves of the jungle as they passed into the thick tropics, seemingly with no destination in thought. They didn't go back to the camp, but went to the beach nearby. As they approached the sand edge, one looked back, letting go of the child and letting the other take him further down. It didn't spot her, she didn't move a muscle, it looked on for a few seconds before rejoining the other on the beach.

The General and a pack of troops and children lined up next to a gunship.

"..delay, should be more than enough." The General finished, now watching the troops load the kids into a gunship. One K'yul was left with the General, the other lumbered into the gunship and it took off. Flying to the east, out to the deep sea.

The feeling of so many younglings being taken away had changed something within her.

She hadn't thought about it when she pulled the trigger when aiming at the General.

The beam punctured straight through his chest, he fell to the ground face first. The K'yul had swooped one long arm to the gun the General had dropped, she fired again, but the K'yul had rolled away with unknown speed.

It had changed its form mid-roll, turning into what it thought would be a more nimbler form than its originals self, an Angelko almost identical to her, only no orange scales could be seen. It was quite literally a shadow that moved with grace as it slid behind a tree, avoiding the beams from Ana.

Ana shot through the thin log of wood protecting the imposter Angelko. But it had dodged and curled its way around the shots, slowly taking cover closer and closer to Ana.

It had came straight at her with cunning determination. It wrestled her to the sandy ground. Tail coiled around her with brutal strength, but she countered with her own and the strength of them both was equal. Ana scratched its face with her four clawed hands, but the imposter seemed more focused on choking her neck, its own claws digging into her skin.

Her vision faded slightly, she tried copying a choke hold, but her strength was failing her. She could take only short gasps in between several seconds. She was suffocating, she would be branded a traitor, assuming she would live through these last breathless seconds. She would be executed before the very General she had just tried to kill.

She never felt so alive at this point.

Small black spots appeared, the imposters face beared its fangs to her. Seemingly knowing it had won the battle.

Suddenly, she thrusts the imposters face to the sand with her last remaining strength. The head hit the ground and the grip on her neck loosened, she uncoiled her tail, sliding it up to the imposters throat. She turns the head forcefully, face first into the sand. The muffled hisses of threats soon died out into the sand. The only sound was the crashing waves on the shore.

Ana lifted her form up, facing a small trail of blood in the sand, the General had crawled along to lean on a tree, she hadn't noticed him till then.

"Help me you…Arghh.." The General held a busted radio, her aim was true. She came up to him, looming over him, rifle in hand.

"Goddamn it…You stupid.." She hit his head with the back of her gun. Not too hard, but still with some force to get his head to bleed.

"Where did you take those young ones?"

"Go to hell you damn.." She hit him again, he was bleeding much more blood then she thought he would.

"Don't matter to you or me." He spits some blood from his mouth. "The Elders want it, they get it…Just like they want _you._ " Ana didn't say a word.

"Didn't tell you?" He chuckles softly, coughing a bit as well.

"Oh yes, we thought your Queen would give you up like _that._ " The snapping of his fingers emphasised on his words. "They don't think your special, but after this assault, I know you are _not who think you are._ And you have proved that today. My death will be blamed on _you._ They will know, they always do."

"They do not own me like they own you, _General._ " She aimed her rifle slightly up to him.

"They get what they want, anything." he dragged on. "Whether you have a chip in your head or not." Suddenly he bursts into laughter. "You honestly think they don't own you? Not your Queen? Or any other of your species?" He had said this between bellows of laughs.

"Your nothing! No one cares for you! Not the Queen, not anyone! Your nothing but a tool to be discarded!"

She had had enough, she ended the humans life then and there with the last beam of her rifle, she chucked it away after she pulled the trigger.

"No." She turns away. She wouldn't take some Generals words to her thoughts, she knew someone who cared for her. _May_ care for her.

"You're wrong." Was her last words before her eyes were thrown thousands of miles away from her.

 _She stood in a large grey hanger. A lone door was ahead of her, an armoury on her far right. She was forced to look down at the ground, the eyes of a medallion stared back at her. Two human hands clutched it, it felt as if whoever was holding them could see what she could see._

Her senses came back, she knew it was Luc.

He was alive.

-XXX-

A pair of gunships had been in the process of taking off. Had it been not for a familiar Muton to delay the launch, she would still be stuck on the island of death. She thanked Xida, they went back to the mainland, back to her Queen.

-XXX-

Xida awaited outside the bunker the Queen was still kept in. He had warned her not to, but she refused to go anywhere else. She was determined for answers.

" _We must leave, you Queen told me.."_

" _Told YOU whatever it was. Not me, she has to tell me!"_

Perhaps dangerously so.

"My child!" the Queen said. "You've returned." She moves in for a hug, but Ana stepped away before she could.

"You have to tell me.."

"You should _not_ have come!" She points to the door. "He will be here any moment, perhaps he listens to us even now…"

"Who?"

"The _Elder_ of course! You must leave. Leave us well enough alone. You should not be here for any longer. I have a place you can hide…"

But Ana shook her head. "No. I will not hide."

"But the Elder.."

" _Screw_ the Elder. I'm done hiding, you can't tuck me away this time _my Queen_. We have to fight them! I killed the General on the island, I won't lay down and let them get me when they find out."

The Queen looked on in despair. "We can't fight them, not now. They watch us to closely. You can't fight them. Not since…"

But Ana stopped listening. She thought about the vision from before. It was definitely Luc. He was in a hanger, with weapons. She didn't have to put two together to figure out what he was doing.

She concentrated her mind on that vision. Opening her thoughts towards the medallion. She thinks of the details, the hard eyes, the smooth surfaces of the faces crevices. They way it almost sparked at her touch. The eyes, particularly the eyes…

The Queen stood bewildered, her child had not opened her eyes for several minutes.

She thought about the warm smile he sometimes gave her, her only human friend to have even 'given a damn' as he put it one time. She felt her mind move like her eyes had done, to the west, so far to the west…

"Wake up!" The Queen interrupted her. "You must leave. Xida will take you north. Out of harm's way."

"But I must…"

"No. I will call you when it is safe. Leave now! For your sake!"

Xida had walked in from hearing the raised voices. He nods to the Queen before motioning Ana to follow.

"But…"

The Queen caresses Ana's face with her hand. "Be safe, my _daughter._ " She drops her hand. "Go."

Ana was hesitant, but complied. She walked out, giving one last glance to the Queen before the door closed. They started up back to the gunships.

"Your Queen told me of her plan. We go with you." Xida had arranged a dozen other Mutons and a few Angelko's (most were lifeless husks, but a Muton had lighter colours then the others) into the gunships (three full ones). As they lifted off, she had asked where they were going. Xida had said that 'India' was the destination, but not what they would do there. The defectors lifted off out of Indonesia. Leaving behind the smoking islands.

-XXX-

By the time the General was found. It was too late to issue warnings. The corpse lay lifelessly on the dirt, must have been dead for days.

-XXX-

The defectors had set up in an old abandoned building in the outer skirts of India, almost on the borders of Bangladesh. There were only a handful of guards in total. About fifteen (Including Xida and the lighter shaded Muton) of Xida's troops. And nine Angelko's, one of which was a white shade, obviously not a clone. She told Ana she was from Australia, survived a facility attack before being transferred to the Indonesian islands by request from the Queen. She was nervous, and so was Ana. Sitting in this place with nothing to do but wait was wasteful.

So Ana decided to try and find the mind of the medallion again. It took her about ten minutes, but she could feel its presence. And _his._ She tried calling with her mind, knowing full well he may not listen.

-XXX-

Luc had been watching the globe spin for a while now. He couldn't believe the speed the Avenger could achieve, he had travelled all the way to Africa in a matter of days. One moment in his home country, the next in an entirely new world, since he was new to all this. He was the only one to get surprised by all this travelling people here found so common.

Something tugged on his mind. He stopped his thoughts, it tugged again, slightly stronger. He stared at the floor blankly to focus on the source. It felt as if someone was yanking his mind like a rope. He blocked out everything around him, almost entering his minds void.

 _Luc_

It was far, but there. It was out there, but here. It called again. He follows the thought back. To the East….

Luc sat in the corner, no one talked for a while, beside the occasional whisper to one another, it was almost peaceful, the ambience of a small break surrounded the whole ship.

"Commander!" he yelled, the silence was shattered, most of the people on the terminal jumped (they were still paranoid about a psi op sitting in their room) out of their seats slightly. The Commanders thin white line appeared on a nearby screen.

"Yes, Adept?" the line questioned.

"Scan…Scan India! Something's there."

Central was on a terminal. "Nothing's out there Commander, not much for a while, not since that MEC we picked up."

"Set course for India Central."

"But Commander…"

"I know Central, just do it."

Central nodded, and went to the pilots controls. Luc could swear the Commander knew exactly what he had sensed, somehow. Was the Commander like him? 'Psionically gifted' as one of the scientists put it?

All he could care about was getting to India as soon as possible.


	10. Chapter 10

The group of defectors had set up camp a few days after arrival. There were not many separate rooms for them all to sleep. Ana was given a room all to herself upstairs (she tried to deny it, but the group insisted) Xida and the others shared large dining rooms, small bags laid on the floor in rows. The white viper called herself Neska, and the maroon Muton was named Thalia. She had never seen a female Muton before, but if she was to describe her, it would be the exact same body shape as Xida's, not much difference physically. Except maybe she had larger arms (which Xida refused to acknowledge) and a heavy attitude, she didn't take orders from no one but Ana. And even then she was aggressive to everything.

They had powered down the gunships in order to not draw attention to themselves. But they had set up a small intelligence tap on the bottom floor of the large house. It spun very slowly, and picked up many small transmissions nearby, be it ADVENT or otherwise.

There was a divide in whether or not it should be set up at all. Most wanted it for intel on nearby activities, but it also could draw more eyes on them if the signal was traced. But after Ana insisted it be placed down, they gave in and set it up. The clones were not completely senseless. Most Angelko voted with Ana (which she had everyone call her from now on) while the Muton's chose Xida or Thalia side. Neska was mostly quiet, not voicing her opinion often, she said would rather 'go with the flow', whatever that meant. The three Muton pilots set up the tap, clearly of the engineer class rather than the usual warriors.

The house must have been own by the wealthy at some point. Beneath the house was a small storage room with some amount of food, the middle floor had a small bar and many dining areas, and the top had random rooms scattered about. Ana had been in the bar, studying a bottle called 'Desi Daru' but she never tasted it, afraid of what it could do to her. Though most human drinks were fine, she didn't want to risk it.

She didn't need to look up to know that Thalia was stomping her way into the bar area. She leant across the bar and looked to her. Unlike Xida, Thalia's face was uncovered, she had golden eyes, and only a small respirator on her face. She takes a low breath before speaking.

"Ana, let us do something, I grow restless sitting here doing nothing." she spoke in fluent High, sounding gruff but very different from Xida.

"If you have something in mind?" Ana was (not of her own accord) a type of 'leader' for the past few days in this place. Her kind and the Mutons looked to her. Probably her Queens words had done this.

"Of course I do!" Thalia makes sure no one was around, even though it clearly was just Ana in the room. "I have been listening, there's some things going on to the west, transmissions. Plenty of stuff to do there."

"Thalia, we cannot risk attacking anyone. We need…"

"Xida needs you to react rather than act, but he is a coward. These transmissions are too close. They could come looking this way within the hour! Besides, our supplies run low, while our ammo wastes away."

Xida had walked in after that. The sneaky Muton liked to listen in from time to time.

"Call me a coward, I'd rather be cowardly than foolish, _Thalia._ You may think there is plenty of us. But only _one_ of her." He pointed to Ana, who didn't flinch.

"She is our only goal, she cannot be risked."

"The Queen wanted us to protect her. I say we _protect_ her by getting ourselves more supplies. We don't want her to starve."

"And If they don't have food?" he countered.

"Then we eliminate the threat before they get closer. We have to do this!"

"No we don't…"

"We do Xida." She cut him off. "And you know it!"

Xida stayed silent, he piped up after a long sigh. "Ana…What is it you want us to do?"

"Why do you want me to choose? I am no leader, yet you all follow me."

"We _cannot_ command you." He basically scowled at Thalia while speaking. "Only advise, and I advise you to stay, if anything should happen to you. We risk a great deal if you go on this. Allow me to go instead."

Ana had done nothing but hide for the past years, she was tucked away from reality by her Queen. After New Isa and the blood isles. She knew sitting here was a waste of her talent. She had gotten a fairly high rank through the Fortress fight, she still wore her armour over most of her body. _No point in wearing it if you don't use it._

"Me and Thalia will scout it out. I will call for you before we strike."

"Very well Ana. Be safe." And at that, he left.

"We finally get to taste blood!" Thalia had stood up excitedly.

"No. We only will scout, we will fight _later."_

Thalia looked away in disgust.

"Am I _understood?_ "

…

"Yes." Thalia said bitterly.

They grabbed their weapons from a table near the door, Ana borrowed a random rifle, smaller then the canons the Mutons use, but still able to do the job. She noticed Xida's, it was a bright blue, and much bigger than the rest.

Thalia's canon glowed a midnight green, it whirled in anticipation when she had loaded it.

"Let us not delay."

They walked outside, two guards were at the main doors, they nodded farewell and moved off into the empty lands.

The only thing that occupied the area around the mansion were trees. All matter of green could be seen for miles around. She wondered if this is what the planet used to look like before mass colonization. It certainly felt better to be surrounded by nature than buildings or concrete. For hours they went through slightly lush forests. It was so quiet Ana could almost forget that she was being hunted, and the world was at war once again. It was almost certain that the Fort on the island was one of many. Small communities destined to be destroyed.

Soon the silence was broken by distant gunshots, birds cawed and flew off nearby in great flocks. Again several more _cracks_ rang out through the forest.

"Time for battle..." Thalia began.

"No. We will wait and watch whoever is fighting before getting involved."

Thalia grumbled something under her breath, but followed Ana towards the fight, they travelled slowly, but made sure they were not seen. A slithering tail, and heavy feet. These were the only noises they made.

-XXX-

The Commander had issued a prototype MAG rifle to Luc as he set off to probe the aliens positions. He carefully plays back his memories of the Commanders instructions as he awaits for the Skyranger to deploy.

" _This is under the radar Luc, I'm only going to send you. Alone. I can't risk others who may not think like you do. Its best to slowly introduce your…'friend' one person at a time."_

 _Luc adjusted his Kevlar, trying to get some comfort out of the suit._

" _We will monitor your position from here, I would go myself but..,. just try not to get killed, I'll break the news to everyone while you're out there."_

Luc had expected some hesitation from the Commander. But it was content, or perhaps it was just testing him to see if he would truly go out and find his alien friend. He had asked if the Commander heard his thoughts from Ana. He didn't get a response, Luc took it as a yes. He wanted to find out how this person could hear Ana's thoughts as well, but that would take a long time. The Commander wasn't very talkative.

"Alright, I'll await here. Good luck out there." The pilot 'Firebrand' had called over a small intercom into the back of the Skyranger. The Skyranger stopped moving, and the ramp had opened, revealing a large forest surrounding him.

The engines died down until the silence returned. He moved with grace towards the signals the Avenger had picked up, a few hundred meters to the east, this was close to where he thought he heard Ana's voice.

-XXX-

The wind was nonexistent in this place, Ana and Thalia had looked down upon a small military base, no bigger than a hanger. It was surrounded by four walls, laced with barbed wire on top of them. The main gate was deserted, apart from two ADVENT shield-bearers who lay lifelessly on the ground track into the small compound.

"Let us tread carefully…" Ana started.

"No, we must find out who stole the fight!"

"Hush. You hear that?"

The sound was like flesh being split in half like paper. It sent chills down her body, and she probably guessed Thalia's as well. They proceeded carefully at a snail's pace inside.

-XXX-

Luc could see from atop a small hill that the compound had in fact been emitting the radio signals. It could be known by the small constant humming that came from within. He saw two white armoured guards at the main gate, and about seven more inside in the main courtyard. He had witnessed the testing of the MAG weapon prototype beforehand, and something told him he couldn't wait to use it now.

The satisfying change between the chemical powered rifles to these magnetic weapons was nothing short of pleasing to the ears. The change in amount of rounds needed to take down the outer guards was astonishing. He tried calling to Ana once more, but perhaps this time the aliens were on to him, the scientist Tygan had told him that they used a small psionic network similar to Luc's gift. But from now on he would try to be more cautious, even his thoughts weren't safe from prying ears. He was warned that as he trained this gift, he would have to suppress his thoughts, even others could start to hear whispers whenever he was around.

Once one the white soldiers had fallen, the other had stopped firing. It punched the ground at its feet with high force, he would think the thing mad, had it not been holding a red ball of energy. As it connected to the ground, a web of energy spread out for many meters. The guard now had a wall of pure red energy surrounding it. It stopped Luc's bullets before it could impact the white guard.

 _Never thought I would see personnel shields, especially ones that come out of the ground through a fist._

He had slid down the small hill behind a tree. Avoiding all shots aimed at him. He pulled his new psi amp off his back. It was a shoddy looking thing. It lacked the elegance of the model he had found out there. But at least it worked slightly better than the other one. It had the same design, but was larger, more heavier to carry.

As he had done before, he gripped the void energy in his left hand, when it was almost unbearably hot, he thrust his hand towards the guard. Its body crumpled like an old newspaper, and fell.

The gate swung open, much like the one back at the haven he visited. Only this time the ones inside were trying to kill him. (which may not be all that different). Four additional black troopers had started firing on him. He took cover behind the left wall.

Wanting to even the fight. He consumed the mind of one of the far back troopers. Flooding its mind with his won. The weak willed soldier didn't think twice before firing upon its former allies.

What was most striking was the little to no hesitance of the others. They had turned, pointed, and fired back. One such trooper got off a lucky shot and killed the controlled trooper. It yelled ' _For the cause!'_ in that horrible speech. Raising its fist to its chest in an obedient salute. This was its last action before Luc ended its life, walking past while reloading his clip.

He could feel someone was inside the far building, it reminded him not of the human soldiers, he proceeded with caution into the main lobby.

Small sounds of _tika-tik-aka-tik_ could be heard around the corner, a small tail coiled around the corner. One Angelko slid around the wall. The tail was rattling quickly.

"Ana?"

But it wasn't, it was one of the clones, XCOM called them 'Vipers' but he preferred the name that Ana had told him. It was yellow, and slightly white. Without a second to spare, it cracked its jaw open, revealing a long slimy tongue, and launched its head forward.

Its tongue travelled at such a distance that Luc almost yelped in fright. How could such a thing fit in its mouth? He Dived to his strong side, the right. The tongue had missed him, but not his foot. It colied around his leg several times with unusual strength, trying to pull him in. Luc clutched his vest, he had a small knife strapped to his chest, it slid out and he cut the tongue off of him. A loud hiss filled his ears, almost like a _scream._

The tongue still squirmed on his leg as he pried it off with both hands, he sheathed the knife and looked to the alien. It was bleeding from its mouth, trying to keep the blood out of its face, it cried a terrible cry. A long piecing hiss, combined with the cries you could mistake for a human woman's, he put down the screaming banshee a moment later with his rifle.

After it fell, all was silent.

He lay there for who knows how long.

That scream, it felt so _familiar._

The sound of footsteps echoed through the room. He looked up, one final trooper was running down the hall. It didn't even make a sound before Luc had used his amplifier to tear it apart from the inside, from its own _soul._

The sound was devastating even to him. Perhaps due to his sudden emotional outbreak, he only just noticed a trickle of water down his left cheek. He didn't know why he was crying all of a sudden.

What he did know was that scream reminded him of someone else. Someone _close._

He searched the top floors for anyone else, keeping his thoughts and steps silent.

-XXX-

Ana and Thalia had split up around the compound, Ana took the right side, following the body trail. It lead her up to the main building. Thalia was behind her, examining the corpses. Ana walked in alone.

One of her own lay on the floor, its tongue was cut, it hung loosely out of the side of its mouth, nearby was a trooper, looking like it had been crushed between two walls. She could just about hear footsteps on the floor above. She climbed the stairs carefully

-XXX-

Luc reached the second floor, no rooms or halls, just one large room of nothingness. But yet another Angelko had been waiting at the doorway above the steps. It binded him before he could realise what was happening. He thought he could read thoughts, yet this one had seemed to have blocked him somehow. Or maybe he wasn't listening properly.

It looked at him with deep hate, as if he had done anything he could to harm her, his arms were pinned to his sides, he had trouble breathing. The tail was a powerful thing, he had underestimated it.

The alien had reached to his chest, grabbing the knife just like he had downstairs. She held it to his throat, if the tightness wouldn't kill him, the blade would. He was about to try and bend its mind, but a rifle shot rang out from behind him. A green trail went straight through the Angelko, its grip loosened so he could break free and rise to his feet.

He looked back to the doorway. His eyes lit up like stars in the night sky. His mouth was slightly agape, he couldn't prepare for this moment even if it had been years from now.

"You know, we really should meet under better circumstances." Ana said slyly.

-XXX-

The look on his face was priceless, but hers was as well, but clearly she controlled herself more than he did.

He gave her a warm smile, just like he had done before they parted ways.

"Well, I just…" Luc looked down to his feet, the tail was slightly twitching, he quickly shakes it off with his foot. "I, uh…"

She went up to him, closing the distance. "You heard my call." She stated.

He reached below his armour and shirt, he still had the amulet, he couldn't remove it, _wouldn't._

"Somehow, yeah. I did." he said while staring at the face.

"I didn't think you would still have it."

"You think so little of me?"

"…Maybe." Ana had said slightly playfully. Luc laughed a little at that, scratching the back of his hair which had grown out since they last met, still short, but…

That's when she realised the _colour,_ a bright white. Not the same as before.

"Your hair…" Luc looked up at her, now she noticed the eyes, purple, like the hologram of the Elder's glow.

"And you eyes? What happened?" She said slightly worried.

"What about you? You look like you've been through hell."

They continued to answer each question with more questions. Her orange eyes locked to his purple ones, she thought they were better than the green ones, a certain power hid behind them. She could feel something else different about him as well. Not his voice, but his _mind_ , his mind talked for him in a way. She found it hard to describe.

They were interrupted by heavy footsteps coming from the doorway. Ana turned in time to see Thalia, her rifle was aimed at Luc.

"Move!" But Ana stayed put.

"Lower it Thalia, he's my friend." She spoke not in English.

"How?" Thalia gruffed.

As they talked in some language Luc didn't recognise. He had carefully studied the Muton in silence. Only when his commlink had beeped did the Muton aim its rifle at him again.

"Can I take this?" Luc said, slowly raising his hands to his head.

"Sure." Ana had turned back to keep the Muton in check.

"'Lance', What's yours status?"

He hated his nickname. They pronounced it like an Englishman would

"Fine." The two aliens looked to him. "Not you guys, just my CO."

"You would give us in! Ana, we must…"

"Let him speak." Ana had steered Thalia into the stairway, Thalia stared at him before she left.

"Commander, you're not gonna believe this, a Muton is here.

"You told me you had _one_ alien friend, who's the Muton?" The Commander asked.

"No idea."

"Well…This will be interesting. I could cope with one Viper, but a Muton…"

Little did they know the group was larger than that.

-XXX-

"I got several contacts inbound to you, its ADVENT. Have your friends called in more company?" The Commander said in a slightly faster pace.

Luc poked his head around the doorway, Ana whispered something to the Muton. It nodded, they both looked at him.

"You guys call in backup?"

"No." Ana said.

"Well, we've got company."

As soon as he was done talking, the Muton rushed downstairs, intent on finally fighting.

"I'm sending in reinforcements Lance, it's not much, but there the only ones ready. ETA eight minutes."

Luc copied, releasing his finger off his ear. Ana had waited patiently, pushing his dropped rifle into his hands.

"I got some friends coming in to help soon." he relayed to her.

"As do I." She replied.

"How many?"

"Just under twenty five, more Mutons and Angelko."

It wasn't part of the plan, they prepared for one Viper, not twenty. Only he and the Commander knew of this, Central was sceptical, and some of the doctors knew but didn't argue. This would more than double their reserves, the Commander only had few a fighters including Luc.

He hated the idea of putting it off until later, but they had a fight to win before that.

-XXX-

Luc positioned himself at the left side of the gate, scanning the horizon with his eyes, and sensing anything with his mind. The Muton had the other side, it had constant angry expression on its face, not much different from any others he's seen. Ana had scaled the wall in front of him for some higher ground, he didn't question how her tail carried her whole armoured form without effort.

Luc noticed the Muton continue to stare at him.

"Hey man, uh, could you keep your eyes on the road, I'm not the threat." He was pretty game to talk to a Muton like this.

"What did you call me?" It paused before speaking in almost fluent English. Something about the voice…

"She's female." Ana whispered above him so only he could hear. _Probably should have read her thoughts._ He thought to himself stupidly.

"I called you…nothing. Ma'am." He said the last word after half a second, not sounding convincing at all.

"You did." It seemed even more angry.

"No, no you must have misheard me."

"You calling me foolish?" Her tone was getting more aggressive.

"No! I…"

"Silence! They come for us." Ana dragged out her 's's slightly, but not much. Probably because she was angry, or maybe it was a way of showing preparation for battle.

Whatever it was, now was not the time. Two gunships flew overhead, the compound probably called for reinforcements before Luc wiped them out.

Rather than land outside the gate, the ships had flown into the inner walls, landing in the courtyard. All three of them repositioned, Ana had slithered across the wall to the far corner, while he and the Muton hid behind boxes and walls.

What dropped out of the ships were two MEC's, one white, one grey. The gray was identical to the other, but had a larger frame, and a bigger gun to boot. Accompanying them was four troopers, one of which had a small stun baton on its back, glowing with sparking red shocks from many jagged points.

They scattered, but the MEC's didn't. They fired at him and the Muton, while Ana took on the troopers.

He didn't think twice before taking the stun lancer's mind and making it his own.

Obviously bringing a melee weapon was a terrible thing to do. But this trooper was highly skilled, it cut and slashed one of the troopers before anyone even noticed.

-XXX-

Ana looked on in confusion, a small tendril of purple energy linked Luc's head to the Stun Lancer's own. She had never seen anything like it before.

But a few bullets to her arm snapped her out of her amazed state. It didn't hurt, her armour did its job. She returned fire from her elevated position. At an angle so the troopers would have to look into the sun's rays to see her on the wall.

The MEC's didn't leave there sides, they slowly stepped forward while pounding Thalia's position. But this what she had planned, she could see Thalia unclipping a grenade and lobbing it between them. A great cloud of green energy smoked there frames. The heavy MEC was better off than its partner, which collapsed on impact.

Thalia roared in triumph, loud enough for all to hear. (except those who didn't speak her language; Luc)

"The machines of old cannot match the strength of the…" But her war cry was short lived, in her carelessness the MEC fired six bullets at her, they all hit her armour, the thickness didn't stop her front grunting in pain. But that was the worst of it.

Luc finished off the MEC with his odd rifle, it sounded as the ones ADVENT uses, but was mostly painted white. She also noted a small device on his back. She would ask him about all this later.

The MEC clicked across the ground, as did its massive rifle. More sounds of ships soon could be heard.

"Don't worry!" Luc called out. "It one of ours!"

A modified drop ship soon was above them, as the others had done. It dropped two people wearing similar gear to what Luc had. Only one of them had a sword across his back, and the other had a small drone that hovered near her head. It was an odd thing, it had two eyes that had two flaps similar to eyelids. It was just as big as the woman's head, with four pads extending out of it, they emitted blue waves, clearly the source of its constant hovering. It stayed near the blonde woman like a dog to its master. Unlike Luc, they had old world rifles.

"Luc!" The man had called, but was nudged by the blonde a moment later. "I mean, Lance! You got a lot of explaining to do."

"Commander tell you?" Luc replied.

"On the way here. I swear you got so…" But the man was cut off. A large rocket had hit the side of the human drop ship. It slowly descended downwards with a rough landing, narrowly missing the two human soldiers it just dropped off. It appeared intact, only a large scorch mark was left on its side.

The pilot had walked out of the back hatch which was slightly filled with smoke. The figure didn't cough, it wore a skull mask, and a matching white suit of armour. It didn't even give Ana or Thalia a glance as it set off and fixed the left engine with a small toolbox.

"Stupid goddamn.." Ana could barely hear say as she removed a panel off the engine.

"Avenger, Skyranger is down." She said a moment later, everyone had gathered around the ship except for Thalia, who kicked at the MEC frames with her feet. "Won't lift off in this state." A pause. "Copy that, Firebrand out."

Firebrand turned to them all. "Avenger is on its way. More contacts are inbound." She pulled out a pistol and cocked it.

Before anyone could protest, two more drop ships had appeared on the horizon, they closed in with such speed that if you blinked you would miss them.

-XXX-

Despite the hesitance from some of the members of this new team, the constant arrival of ADVENT forces had them gunning for each other no matter what. Kurt and Phoebe shared the rank of Corporal , they had some experience, but no matter how much training they did in and out of the tactics school (or anyone for that matter), nothing could prepare them for a fight alongside their enemy.

Ana had stayed perched on the wall like a gargoyle, the height advantage was highly rewarding. But the Muton was reckless, she obviously preferred hand to hand combat, swiping her bayonet in great arcs. Luc didn't know how long her armour would hold, but was thankful he didn't have to attack her.

Again he used his amplifier to damage the minds of the troopers, he hadn't told Ana about this yet, her confusion about it could be heard very loudly. He could imagine what he must look like. One day walking off into the desert, the next she saw him he was using his mind to kill.

Phoebe or 'Pheebs' had stuck to the rear, only using her gremlin to try and heal Thalia, who refused (by almost punching the poor GREMLIN) every time.

Kurt (Or Nox) had used his sword to slice through the many lancers that tried to get too close. Clearly the lancers only attacked, never defended. One swipe or stab to the chest would usually keep them down. One in particular had tried coming up behind the Muton, but he had finished it off before it could go any further.

"You stole my glory human," She would call over her shoulder while finishing off one of the others.

"Perhaps you should be more quick on your feet then!" He ran off before she could respond.

Luc took mental count of the kills, it had been well over five dropships filled with about twenty or so troopers and lancers before the Commander had spoken up.

"Last drop ship, no more after this one." The three humans copied.

"One second team." Central had said, it took half a minute before he spoke again.

"Three more contacts to the east!" he almost yelled.

"How far?" Phoebe asked.

"There gonna be right on top of you! Avenger is almost there, hang on!"

Sure enough, Luc could just about sense them, to close for comfort.

"Ana!" he called. "More on the east side."

"I know, there with me."

-XXX-

"All personnel gear up for combat! Enemy forces are en mass, they'll be right outside the ramp people! Move it!"

Central ordered all of the soldiers into the hanger, the Avenger was coming to a halt. The fifteen fighters stared at the ramp door while waiting. Some were ready, others a bit too anxious for comfort. Even Central picked up his one of a kind rifle and armour, ready at the back, sharpening his sword for the last minute.

The ship slowly reached the ground, the ramp unfolded from the back, it hit the ground a few seconds later, the soldiers poured outside, Central in tow. They had landed just outside the compound. Gate on the right, the road leading out to the left. On the road were the three humans, and a Viper and a Muton. The soldiers had their back to them, while the aliens faced them.

Central could clearly see the small armada of forces across the road, the group stood between an army of human rebels, and an even bigger group of aliens on both sides.

He counted fifteen Mutons, and a whole bunch of Vipers, some of which were black and white, most were yellow. Not to mention the most intimidating Muton he had ever seen. Complete in full midnight armour across its face and body.

XCOM trained their weapons on the aliens. The aliens aimed back.

-XXX-

Luc admitted, his heart pounded in his chest like a time bomb.

This wasn't exactly how it was supposed to go.

 _One Viper Commander, that's all I ask_. Not this. Not a bunch of them, and a ton of Mutons as well.

He, and everyone else waited with bated breath. Waiting for someone to make the wrong move. Maybe blinking too fast could set off a devastating blow to both sides. Even Phoebe's GREMLIN had stopped hovering so erratically, it instead stayed motionless in the air, eyes scanning all around. It must have been the longest five minutes in all their lives.

Luc glanced at Ana every now and then. Then Kurt, Phoebe, the Muton. He didn't know of he should move into the XCOM group, out of the centre of two conflicting sides. He had a feeling that neither did they.

But a slightly louder hum of a drone soon came from the Avenger's ramp. Another GREMLIN, this one was more or less the same, except the XCOM logo was painted on its front. A large ridged 'O' with an 'X' in the middle.

It slowly came over to the group Luc stood within. In hovered between them and the rest of XCOM. It took a few seconds to look around before speaking in the same robotic tone as the 'Commanders line' as he liked to call it.

"I am the Commander." It announced to no one in particular. "I lead XCOM." The aliens behind Luc looked at one another, still not moving their rifles. "Who leads you?"

Ana stood next to Luc. She was slightly worried, he could tell. She stepped forward, eyes on the drone.

"That would be me." She said.

The GREMLIN eyed her wearily before proceeding. "I want to let you know that this isn't the last of ADVENT's forces. They approach now even as we speak."

Luc strained his hearing. Indeed, more were on the way. No one said anything. The tension filled the air.

"I don't have to think twice to know that you and your friends are on the run." The Commander continued. "It's one thing we have in common, your group and mine."

"What you've demonstrated here today, marks a grand day that no one could ever hope to dream of. We do not have to be enemies. I believe we can help one another."

XCOM soldiers and aliens alike shared confused glances at one another. One of the Muton's, in black armour, stepped forward. (None of the humans could not understand it, but it said this;)

"Ana, your Queen wanted you to stay put. She may return and find you gone. What would she think, what would she say?"

Ana looked as if about to respond, but he continued.

"But we will be found soon, perhaps these humans can help us." This got some angry hisses and growls from the main group, clearly getting restless.

Ana turned to the group that had followed her here, addressing them all, her back to the humans.

"If any one of you has any doubt. You must leave, return to ADVENT's mercy, should they offer you any. Leave and don't look back, you can go without harm or delay. But should you stay, you will all follow what I say. No questions, no exceptions. You all agreed to see me through for your own reasons. I will not judge you if you choose to walk away now."

They were all there. They all had left the old building in there only dropships. All of them came willingly at a moment's notice. Xida had come as fast as he said he would. And none of them moved, not even the slightly shaking Neska.

She turned back to the 'Commander' drone.

"I must warn you we haven't a lot of time." The Commander said.

"We will help you." Ana said without hesitance.

The drone extended a small metal claw, somewhat like a skinny hand. She had seen human 'handshakes' before, she grasped it with her scaly hand.

"Let us fly." It says, turning and flying off after releasing her hand. Back up the ramp. Everyone stared at it, not moving.

It reached the ramp top before turning its head. "Well? Lets pull out!" it yelled. This got everyone into motion. Humans in the Avenger, aliens in the dropships.

-XXX-

The aliens followed after the already in motion Avenger. On route to someplace more discreet. The Avenger had a cloaking field around it, the dropships would be safe if they stayed close.

The Commander would have to figure out how this was going to work

This would make one interesting alliance.


	11. Act III: Consolidation

Act III: Consolidation

Luc was tempted to board the dropship that Ana was on. But a part of him told himself that getting on a ship with a whole bunch of aliens that hastily joined there side, wasn't exactly a good idea. He climbed the Avenger's ramp, the last to do so.

Except for the engineers, who had hastily repaired the damaged Skyranger. Them and Firebrand had managed to repair the engine to operable levels. It hovered (as well as being pushed by the lot of them) slightly off the ground, landing in the hanger bay with a loud bang. The ramp closed, and they took off.

The Avenger had a small zone that stretched over a kilometre around the ship. The alien gunships remained undetected. ADVENT couldn't track them as long as they stayed close, and couldn't see them of course.

But almost every alien was anxious, the human vessel was alien in design, a former transporter ship for ADVENT. They had no idea if XCOM had attached guns on it, or kept it unarmed. There gunships also were unarmed, but had windows for the heavy Muton rifles to fire out of. But no weapon could penetrate the human vessel, it was too thick. Ana wondered how such a thing could even be captured by a bunch of rebels.

The Commander shut off the GREMLIN, no longer would she talk through it, she had to speak to the newfound allies face to face. She was sure a robot being the leader would make a bad impression the longer it was used. She got ready for a first meeting, Central stood outside the door to her room.

"Commander." he said through the door. "Are you sure about this? I'll follow you to the end, but are we really this desperate?"

She could hear the doubt in his voice. She couldn't blame him, no sane person would.

"We can't recruit like we used to Central, we need help." She opened the door. "It feels like I've been doing this for years already. But we can't do this with so few of us."

Central didn't look at her, his eyes were on the globe of the world down below.

"What about the Underworld?" he asked.

"The what?"

"The black market. Surely we can get more people willing to fight there. It's like the old grey market. But built beneath the ground."

She walked down the stairs from her quarters, now next to the globe, a highlighted portion of northern America lit up like a candle, indicating the 'Black Market's' location.

"I'll think about it, for now, I got to have a diplomatic meeting with these aliens."

"Count me out Commander." Central sighed. "I'm no diplomat."

"You would make a fine speaker soon enough." She joked.

"I don't know how you're going to pull this one off Commander…" One of the technicians said with respect, doubtful, but respectful.

She whispered so no one could hear. "Nor do I…"

-XXX-

They had landed on a long stretch of sand on the west coast of America. A great flat beach greeted the landing gears of the ships. The alien ships had landed behind the Avenger, lined up like three points of a triangle. The ramp lowered once more, revealing the humans representatives. The dropships opened, revealing their own.

Both were groups of four, backed up by several soldiers of all kinds. Specialists, Rangers, Sharpshooters, Mutons, Vipers…

The eight main figures slowly walked, stomped and slithered towards each other, the sand crumpled under them. They met each other halfway.

The Commander wore a black skin tight suit with wavy midnight hair and had tanned skin, she was slightly taller than most, not to mention her extraordinary beauty she radiated. She lead Luc, Kurt and Phoebe.

Ana, her sunset scales in almost fully clad _Elite_ armour. Lead Xida, Thalia and Neska.

Once again the air was filled with tension like a gas leak in a small room.

Luc nodded to the group respectfully, Ana returned it, which the Commander returned, which Xida returned, which Kurt did. But the other females didn't move at all, for some reason.

Neska was staring at Luc, he looked back, it was the one from the facility, the one with James. He decided not to say anything, and looked away from her.

"So, the XCOM leader steps out from her robotic shadow." said Thalia.

Keeping her voice neutral, the Commander responded. "It's just a safety precaution."

Luc noticed the Commander had a slightly British accent.

"Then you should put it back on if you want to save your bones." Thalia placed one foot ahead of her.

Xida nudged her shoulder. "Step away Thalia, this is no fight."

She looked as if about to punch something, but stayed still none the less.

"To whom do I address?" The Commander asked.

Ana spoke up this time. "I am called 'Ana' (She glanced at Luc for a split second) this is Xida, Thalia and Neska."

"Thalia…I like your attitude, you're a fierce warrior, you fought well back at the compound." The Commander said cleverly. Thalia grunted, in either amusement or anger, no one knew.

"This is my group, Pheebs, Nox, and Lance. I give codenames to hide their identities, it's their choice if they choose to share them, not mine. I do not expect you to join our forces willingly. Name your price. We will help each other, this is a good place to start, if I say so myself."

There was one thing Ana had in mind, they had discussed it on the way here.

"We must find the Queen, _our_ Queen. She is my species last hope of survival."

A fair deal, but not an easy one. The last hope?

"We will help you search, you have any idea were to start?"

Ana didn't, she would no doubt be gone from the blood isles, it was no place to search, they must look elsewhere, anywhere.

"I thank you for your help in leading ADVENT away from us. We will comply to our best ability, but we cannot be _controlled._ Even our debt to you has limits." Ana said.

"I know what you mean, I hope our species can learn to get along on the way to your Queen." The Commander held out her hand, this time with her own flesh.

Ana accepted it. "As do I."

-XXX-

If there was any place to find a lead, the Black Market was it. (As Central put it) They had arrived half a day later. To an empty field, half of it was covered in snow, the other was a dull grey layer of dirt. And it was as cold. To cold even for the aliens, the sun was warm, but its heat had died on its trip to the surface.

"Commander…" Phoebe yelled over the small blizzard they were all stood in. "How much farther!?"

"Not two steps ahead!" Central yelled instead. The Commander was as new to this as they were. Central was the temporary leader now.

Phoebe fell face first into the deep snow, she lay on a weird angle, as if laying on a set of downward steps. Her small yelp was muffled in the snow.

At once all the snow covering the hidden steps fell, it was accompanied by a small whirl of some hidden machine. The snow filtered into unseen chutes two meters apart from the walkway into the abyss below. The nine of them walk down the steps. (The aliens insisted on coming with them all)

One lone lamp lit the small room down below, almost like a bunker. They had trouble fitting into the room. Nothing else could be seen. They squeezed into the small room rather awkwardly.

"Who's that?" Kurt called, pawing at Luc's face.

"Get out of it!." Luc pushed him back lightly.

"Your stepping on my tail 'Commander'…." Neska whispered.

"Sorry."

"I hope that's just your arm Xida…"

"COMMANDER!" An unknown high pitched voice yelled over some sort of loudspeaker. "Whoops, heh, volume was up…Commander! Let me get the lights…"

The room lit up so bright Luc had to squint for a moment. The far wall moved downwards, revealing a long black hall, and a figure who held open arms towards them.

"Oh, am I glad to see you not some lumbering corpse Commander! It's been way (he dragged the word out) to long! Twenty years? Jeez…" The man had a black robe that covered his entire body, it was bundled atop his head, revealing two devilish red and black eyes.

"Jack, Jack, Jack, never left the business do you?" She asked, giving him a light hug, which surprised some of the group.

"You know me, I love it, always have, always will." Jack patted her back, now looking to the others. He let go and strode over, not in the least worried about anything.

"These your XCOM buddies? Little on the downside if you ask me, compared to the old guys." Jack examined Kurt, then Phoebe, finally Luc.

"At least you still got a mind guy! I'm Jack." Luc shakes his extended hand.

"Luc."

"L-U-K-E?" Jack spelt out loud.

"No. It's.."

"We have this problem a lot, back in the day." Kurt smirked.

"Yeah, well that's because you're an idiot 'Nox'." Luc said his nickname with some sarcasm.

"Jack. We need some information." The Commander had butt in, she whispered " _Enough."_ On the fly as well when she passed them.

"Oh, by all means ask away. I'm sure we can help humanity's last hope by any means. But first…" He walked over to the four aliens who had stayed silent in the back of the room. He looked them over one by one. Thalia growled at him when he approached, he skirted around her to look at the others. Not making a single comment as he went.

"New friends Commander?" Jack asked, walking back to his original spot in the doorway.

"Jack…"

"Alright, alright. What is it you need to know?"

"We need to find the Viper Queen. (She noticed Jack didn't flinch) Leader of the whole species, she…Is important. Do you know anything about her? Or any ADVENT leaders? Or where to find them?"

"Hmm…Never took you of all people to help the aliens, but as for your Queen…I know nothing, can't help you."

All but one person felt regretful, unfulfilled or angry. Luc may have heard him say he knew nothing. But his mind said otherwise.

"But you know someone who can. Don't you?" Luc asked.

"Oh..(He half laughed, half exhaled) Your good, I'm glad some things don't change. Yeah, I know someone who could. Two leads, one high, one low, I wouldn't go as one if I were you, they won't stay around forever. Not to mention they will spook at the slightest trouble.. But before you come into my little slice of the world. Your weapons." He points to a door behind him. "All of them."

They had all been armed, their guns were holstered on their backs. In the door was no room, but a closet, with several racks to hold any kind of weapon, even trays for small objects, probably grenades or something.. As Luc was the last to place his amplifier and rifle into the racks. The door shut on its own. Some cogs whirled, then it was silent. He opens the door again. But the guns were gone.

"You'll all get them back on your way out. _Trust me._ "

Luc felt his honesty, but still didn't trust him, he was just too sleazy.

Down the hall, a light shown through, like the end of a long tunnel. Luc could hear a million voices drowning each other out. A part of him was excited to see what lay beyond, in the Black Market.

"Everyone! Fall in." The Commander called out to all, Jack had walked to the light and waited, his form cast a long shadow across the floor towards them, he was out of earshot.

"Let's huddle in." Kurt placed his arms around Central and Phoebe. All looked to him, they were in a circle, but no one except Kurt had his arms outstretched. He rather awkwardly lowered them.

"OK, the Angelko and Mutons will take one, we humans take the other." The Commander said.

"I don't take orders from humans." Thalia growled.

Xida nodded. "We get a say in what we do."

Ana called out to the man named Jack. "Where are these leads?"

"One in a bar, one in a hotel." he answered.

"We take the…what's a bar?" Neska finally spoke up.

"It's a place you get drunk." Luc answered.

"It's not just that." Kurt interrupted. "Depends on what kind of bar it is."

"How many types are there?" Neska asked with some curiosity.

"My favourite are the ones in clubs.."

"Shut up!" Central said. "…Lounge bars are better…"

"What's a lounge bar?"

"Don't encourage him Central! Here is what we are gonna do." She points to Luc. "You. The bar. The rest come to the hotel."

"How come he gets to go?" Phoebe asked.

"Because I said so and that's that. You four, (The aliens) do as you please. We all meet back here when I give the order on the comms."

"We will not sit back and watch." Ana said. "I will go with Luc. Thalia, Xida, Kurt, and Phoebe go to the hotel. Neska, Central and the Commander will look elsewhere and find information on anything you can find."

Despite her sudden interruption, Ana had a straightforward plan. Not even Central complained. Neska was a bit hesitant, but after a few kind thoughts from Ana. She calmed down.

"No way. We get to decide." Phoebe half whispered.

"Are we about done!" Jack yelled.

"Sure." The Commander said, now walking towards Jack. The group followed. (With Phoebe groaning in some annoyance)

"Gentleman, ladies…aliens…Welcome, to the _Underworld._ "

It was as if someone had carved a giant fist into the ground that stretched on for miles. They were currently just below the surface. But a whole living and breathing city was below them, accessed by many twisting paths of stairs. It reminded Luc of the city in the rock but without all the bugs. This whole city had its fair share of neon lights, with plenty of odd symbols from all different languages everywhere he looked. It was as if it was daytime in this underground place. The 'roof' was a large hole above the Underworld. It could be seen through, yet at this size it should have been seem from the surface. _Glass._ He thought. _And we walked right over it._

How it worked, how you could see out but not in, was anyone's guess. The snow should have blocked out the light, but didn't.

"So whose going where?" Jack asked. Luc and Ana stepped forward.

"We take the bar." Luc said.

"Ah yes, you could read the minds without asking, but you might have trouble doing so here, it's called 'Roofeys'. The owner likes your kind, he will know a thing or two." He pointed to Ana. "We have our small share of alien visitors, don't be to alarmed."

 _Weird…_

"It's down that way, can't miss it." Jack pointed to a far corner. Sure enough the word 'Roofeys' was lit up with a great red light.

"As for you guys…" Jack walks to the other group.

But Luc and Ana had set off without listening to Jack any longer. They descended into the Underworld.

-XXX-

Imagine a world so far under the ground, but yet as bright as if the sun could pierce the earth's crust. Luc though it would be hard to see so far under the earth. Yet many sources of light were all around them. Be it the glassy roof, the neon signs on the crooked houses, or the windows that showed bright interiors. So bright it was, Luc and Ana squinted for much of the walk to Roofeys. The houses looked somewhat like those old cartoons Luc loved to watch, he couldn't remember the names of them, but still the buildings seemed to lean ever inwards to the walking paths. Almost acting like roofs across the paths they walked. It would be fascinating to see how one would stand inside them, they were at odd angles, perhaps they crawl instead of walk inside them.

The man named Jack was right about one thing. Aliens were no surprise for anyone they passed by. The humans mostly wore black cloaks or grey coats. Some were hunched like weird monsters, but most either walked, or crawled.

But what surprised Luc the most was the aliens that didn't even glance at them. A Muton here, a Sectoid there, even a thing that looked somewhat like a god, but had no legs, replaced by small engines that made odd blue trails of flame. But he decided not to stare, this place felt eerie already.

It wasn't just this that made him stop. A peculiar Sectoid had walked straight up to them, eyes locked on Luc. It had a discoloured left eye, and it clutched its right arm with its left. Its mind was almost reaching out to him.

It waved at him, even though its stood hunched slightly in front of him, it waved as if they were old friends.

"Hey." Luc sad with an awkward smile.

It smiled (more like snarled) back. It turned and went back the way it came.

"Friend of yours?" Ana asked somewhat confused.

"He's from Isa, don't know how he got here."

They walked on.

-XXX-

They came up to the main door of Roofeys. A shoddy joint if they ever saw one, it lacked the finesse of the ones in New Isa, even standing in its shadow made Ana and Luc feel unwanted.

But that changed when they entered, the many patrons sat at almost all the tables. Laughing endlessly at each other, no one glanced at the duo when they sat at the bar. Luc waved the tender over.

"Can we speak to Roofey?" Luc asked, slightly yelling over the moderate noise.

"He comes when he wants. Wait." The young man said rudely, he walked off to serve others. Luc glanced back at Ana, who was standing.

He waves to the stool next to him. They were all rotten and looked about ready to break, but he left that one in particular, it looked less likely to collapse. She sits down and crosses her arms across the bar in front of her.

"Luc?"

"Yeah?"

"Tell me everything."

So he did. All that he could. The moment he left the city, to the moment he saw her at the compound. It could have been hours, and still they went on uninterrupted.

Ana payed full attention, never intervening with questions, only widening her eyes at some of the details. In particular when he had passed out in front of the haven gates, holding a weird device he called an 'Amplifier'. And when he told her of his own discovery of his changes to his eyes and hair (and his psionic gift) she had to stop him there.

"You can read thoughts?"

"As if it were natural to do so." He smiled.

She thought about if he was doing it now, and tried remembering if she thought anything not worth thinking about when he was around.

"Don't worry I'm not…Well, now I am, but I wasn't. I swear." Luc said, somewhat truthfully, but he couldn't help it, he was only human.

"Can you, send messages? Receive thoughts and give answers to them?"

"Well, I can get information about someone, even influence them, but I haven't tried communicating like I would with words."

"Then let us try." She closed her eyes to begin. Luc had asked what she meant, but she paid no attention to the physical world for a moment. She thought a sentence like she would to one of her own kind, and sent it to him. She made a few attempts, just recognising the human mind next to her.

 _What's your name?_

Luc could just about hear the voice of Ana in his head. He thought about his name, the letters, the pronunciation. As if the word were a physical thing.

 _Look._

"Not quite." Ana remarked.

Luc half laughed at this. "I guess I need some practice. How can _you_ do that though?"

Ana took a deep breath before replying, this had been a secret only her own kind knew, not to mention the Elders, but it was her kinds best kept secret. The biggest strength they had. And she told a human without even thinking of the possible consequences.

"My kind all have what you have, you call it 'Psionics', it's a good word for it. The Surn-tal have it, but they use it much more effectively than we do. We can speak through thoughts, to one another, rather than use the High speech. For our own matters we need not share with other races."

"We have learned that ADVENT uses a psionic network to command its troops, through little chips, does your kind have this?" Luc whispered, though no one could hear them anyway.

"No, those are only for the human soldiers, I think the High Ones have them, but they are programmed all the same."

"High Ones?"

"The ones with no legs."

"What about the Surn-tal?"

"The pink one that waved at you is one."

"Right."

Luc continued with his story, after he boarded the Avenger, he got to the point about the vision, the one of her on the beach, killing a General.

"Then I collapsed, and I saw through your eyes, you killed a General, did you?"

She nodded, asking how he knew that. But the answer was surprising. _Visions._ What was it that the Queen told her? _Only Angelko's gain the effects._ The medallion…

She told her story. But he interrupted when the she left the Queen.

"What can that mean then? This thing is what's giving me these nightmares? But how, you said it only affects your kind." Luc stated the obvious.

"I have no idea Luc. No human has ever worn one of those, perhaps it works for you as well, you do have the gift."

 _So this thing is alive then._ He thought, now holding it out with one hand, he always knew those eyes look to much alive. But to hear the Queen say it is for Angelko's only. That was slightly terrifying.

Ana went on, to the point of her arrival in India, now it was Luc's turn to ask her one vital question.

"What made you kill the General? It could have been a lot worse for you."

"I don't know, just seeing those children…It reminded me of when I…" But Ana stopped talking. Now staring at the wooden bar without attention.

"I'm sorry Ana, you have your reasons, I will not pry." Luc could've just searched her head for the reason, but stayed true to his word. Hopefully she would tell him when she wanted to, and he wouldn't sneak into her head before then.

Ana could swear she could feel Luc's small presence withdraw from her head. This made her feel comfortable somewhat.

"You know, this reminds me of our talks in that 'Muton' place we met up in, (he let out a slight chuckle) feels like so long ago now."

"I wonder how that place is doing." Ana asked more so to herself.

"Well," Luc said after a moment of silence passed between them. "I told you about that pink thing that changes into different people? What's there true name?"

"K'yul, they speak in old English, they prefer it. Don't know why."

Luc didn't mention the part with the 'Chyssalids' (as the Commander named them) in the city of rock. He didn't want to tell her of the many familiar faces he killed, one such being herself.

After that, another young and skinny man walked over from behind the bar. His brown hair looked like the side of a triangle from the front. He had a very tight face, as if a peg was latched into the skin behind his head.

His voice was slightly squeaky. "What do you want?" Luc assumed 'Roofey' asked.

"You the owner?" Luc said.

"Spit it out already." Roofey squeaked. "Never mind." He turned to Ana. "What do you want?"

"Information."

"About what?"

"A leader of my kind. You know what I speak of." Ana said.

"Your well informed snake. Maybe you and your dumb human can do something to earn that kind of info."

Luc had enough, he decided to search his mind instead, it would be a lot quicker. But he failed, his mind was as if it was never there. Roofey didn't even flinch when Luc pressed harder, but to no avail.

"We can do that. What is it you want done?" Ana asked without noticing Luc's failing psionic attempts.

"I need something delivered to an old friend of mine." He held up a briefcase they hadn't noticed he was holding beneath the bar. "Wants to meet in an hour, you get to 'Fill's Fries' before he shows up. If he asks why a snake is there, tell him that you're his." He points to Luc. "Bodyguard, tell him you're my reps. Come back afterwards, then you get what you want." He puts the case on the bar, and leaves through a back door, presumably his office. He pokes his head out a moment later. "Don't open it! I'll know if you do! Let him do it for you." He disappears again.

"That it?" Luc asks.

Ana put her 'ear' to the case top.

"Silent." She says.

Without further delay. Luc picks the case up carefully, and they leave. They were guided by an unnamed gentleman wearing a white suit who had a bald head.

Both Luc and Ana could feel many eyes upon them, clearly Roofey had them watched in such little time. Ana noticed a few who definitely didn't belong. One man talking on some odd phone, his eyes were almost to focused for someone on the phone. An old lady walked in front of them. Turning to look at them every now and again. There were many others like this, one wrong move and she was sure they would have many guns pointed at them.

Out of all the buildings they've seen, Fills Fries was one of the more elegant ones. It had glass walls out front. And a sort of queuing system, it was surprising this place hadn't been robbed, it didn't look like it ever was.

The French man who controlled the queue ushered them to the front, passing the long line as they went. The whole interior was made of glass. The tables, chairs, cutlery, everything. It was like a royal dining room for the many people stuck in this underground city.

"Monsieur will be ere' any minute, good luck." And the French man left them, no order taken or anything. They sat at a four seated round table, in the corner the furthest from the exit.

"What an odd place." Ana remarked, though she wasn't complaining.

Luc examined the case he placed on the table. It had a simple flip lock on the front, it was made entirely from leather, and wasn't heavy in the slightest. Through the middle of the top of the case was a thin metal line. It ran around the whole case.

"Two lids." he said out loud. "At least, I think so." But it only had one lock, maybe it was just for aesthetics.

Ana tugged his arm, eyes looking behind him. He turned and saw three suited man, two of them wore black, one wore red. He knew this was Roofeys 'old friend' he mentioned.

The man in red sat down with them without asking, his two guards stood either side of him, almost touching his shoulders. These body guards looked so thin, Luc might miss them if he looked side on. Not to mention they had strange greyish skin, and eyes hidden behind golden frames.

"Roofey?" The man in red asked.

"We are his reps." Luc replied.

"Shouldn't be more than one." He looked to Ana. "Who is this?"

"My bodyguard, you have your own, I have mine, fair?"

"Fine. This it?" The man in red pointed to the case.

"Of course." Luc said honestly.

Nothing could prepare them for what happened when he flipped the lock on the case.

-XXX-

Ana could only 'think' to her own kind, with Luc as an exception. His medallion probably helped him in that regard. But these three she could faintly sense. Not much, but faintly.

But she forgot about this when the red suited man flipped the lock. Half the lid opened towards them, the other half opened the other way. She saw several pistols inside the case. The other half must have been a bomb. As a thousand small needles flew out on the three men's side. The needles jammed into them like thumbtacks to a board. Pinning the two guards into the glassy wall, and the red man collapsed along with his chair.

About five more similar figures jumped out there seats and pulled out small green pistols. Ana flipped the table for cover, while Luc dashed behind a large pot plant made of glass.

Chaos erupted, the men with pistols shoved humans out of the way in attempt to fire at Ana or Luc. Giving them some much needed time.

"Luc!" Ana said, tossing one of the pistols from the case to him. She took one as well, they were all loaded.

"OK, I'll get these ones, you…"

The ones he pointed towards had crouched, now hidden in the mass of the crowded that rushed out the door.

"They can hear us! Use another method." She hissed.

"Alright…"

 _I got the right side._ He thought.

 _I got the left._ She replied.

At least she could understand him. His actual message was: "I, _Right,"_ But she knew what he meant, and of course, he did as well.

Comparing their weapons to their own. The thin figures had fired green blobs of energy rather than bullets. They had .45's, the suited men had energy blasters. Not a fair fight.

Ana went over to behind a glass pillar, it wouldn't help, the whole room was glass, however when the blasters connected with the pillar, the projectile slowed down rather than pierce the whole pillar. Ana was glad she fired six bullets rather than six beams at the men.

It only took less than that to kill one of them, perhaps there body mass reflected there general weakness.

Luc had vaulted behind the bar. The bottles and glasses on top shattered into a thousand pieces from the crossfire. Slightly cutting the top of his shoulders, but nothing serious.

He and Ana returned fire. Indeed they had fallen with little to no effort. The glass tables and walls provided cover, but everyone could be seen clearly, they all crouched and stood behind unseen barriers.

The fight ended quickly as the last of the black suits had fallen. Shot in several spots on his chest. Luc walked over and crouched to examine the thin man. His limbs looked like spaghetti, he lay strewn across the fall with his knees bent. As if he died giving birth.

"This is one ugly… _thing._ If its human, its one alien lookin' guy." Luc said as Ana came over to him, she tossed the gun aside when she came up to him.

"They look so…like us." Ana whispered.

"What do you mean?" Luc turned his hunkered form to her.

"My kind, long ago. We used to look like that."

Luc examined the man again. …. _Huh?..._

"Well, you certainly look much better."

Ana went wide eyed at that. She took this as an odd complement, had he just complemented her? Or was it just an observation not about her

Luc could hear these thoughts from her, his cheeks went slightly red. He did his best to hide it, pretending he had simply said nothing. _She does look better though…_

He looked over to the doorway, the French man was waving him over. "Oh, look! Let's get going." And with that, he almost ran off to the exit.

Ana followed, she had a weird felling in her gut. She caught up to him. He had already bid the French man farewell (who was in on the whole deal) not even bothering to ask about who those suited men where.

No one even looked at them as they exited the now shattered glass building. As if this kind of thing was normal.

-XXX-

"Care to explain what that whole thing was about?" Luc asked angrily. They had returned to Roofeys. They both stood behind the bar again. Roofey chuckled a high laugh.

"Didn't like that freak, knew he would probably kill me, so I made him a little present."

"How about us? There were a bunch of them hiding out there."

"If you couldn't handle them, you couldn't handle the information I'm about to give you. So quit whining."Roofey slid a small folder across the bench, inside was a map of America, a large black 'X' was slightly to the left of the middle of the border between Canada and the USA. (This area, according to ADVENT, was now simply called 'Western US.')

"What's this? The Queen is there?" Ana said as she took the folder from Luc's hands.

"Reports of massive snakes like you are around there. I sent people out, no one returned. Your leader is in there. I'm sure of it."

"Thanks, I guess…"

"Go now, don't waste Roofeys time!" And Roofey ushered them out with the sweeping of his hands. As if saying ' _shoo, begone! '_

They stood out on the street once more. Ana had the folder in hand, Luc was rubbing his hands together.

"Well, that went…well, I guess."

"A question if you will." Ana lowered the folder to her side.

"Yeah?."

"What's a snake?"

"Oh..I'll explain on the way back."

They retraced there steps back to the entrance., talking about earthen reptiles on the way.

-XXX-

"As for you guys…" Jack walks towards Xida and the others. Xida felt the urge to step away from this fowl city, it stank of death, not to mention the more vile smells.

"The woman at the hotel. 'Stelia' She knows what goes down in most of eastern Europe."

"How does she do that?" The girl called 'Pheebs' asked.

"Ties." Is all Jack said.

"Which 'Hotel' is hers?" Xida questioned.

"The only one in town, the biggest one in the centre, can't miss it, run along. But be careful, not even a _Muton_ scares her.

"We shall see…" He barely heard Thalia say.

So Jack walked off, back to the entrance, the man should not be trusted, his legs would snap like twigs if Xida found out if he lied.

"OK, we shall listen around, can you guys be discrete?" The human Commander said after Jack left.

She got four answers: Yeah, No, a growl, and a curt nod. Xida was the one to nod. He didn't bother guessing who said what. He had already walked down the steps in the hotels direction.

What crazy designs the humans down here had. The houses twisted and turned towards the surface. The house doors were too small for him or Thalia to fit through. The interiors were probably smaller. He tried nodding to any passing Muton , only to receive a growl in return. He wondered why so many of his kind (not to mention many other races) had come here of all places.

One male Muton stopped however, not to speak to Xida, but to Thalia. She stopped in her tracks, he knew this male would be in for a world of pain.

She started towards him, who only stood motionless, examining her (in his mind) beautiful form.

"What's going on?" The dark man 'Nox' said, tapping his shoulder lightly.

"Thalia hates men." he stated as if it were a well known fact. And to prove his point. Thalia head butted the male Muton. Knocking it out cold. She turned back to them, a look of pure rage could be seen, he had been through this before. He was lucky he learned his lesson a slightly less painful way.

"What?" She asked them both.

She was just out of hearing range when Xida whispered ' _Not a word'._ Neither one of them looked away, only shook their heads in almost synchronisation.

"Let's hurry this up then." She stormed off.

Both of them sighed in relief. Pheebs watched all the while, tagging along without a word.

They had come to the unusually large doors of the hotel. They were big enough for the Mutons to fit in, the was no lobby to great them, only a hall filled with countless doors, it was more like a prison than a hotel.

A small _clunk_ could be heard coming from the end of the hall. It sounded again after a few seconds. Then in rapid succession.

 _Clunk, clunk, clunk_

It could have been someone head being smashed in, or an even larger Muton pacing behind the door. Whatever it was, it was alien even to Xida.

But Xida wasn't afraid of some strange noise, he couldn't speak for the others. They stood still at the start of the now dreary hall, as if the sound made the hall that much more sinister.

"S-Stelia?" Nox called out.

No answer.

"Stelia?!"

 _Clunk, clunk_

"Don't call out. Just go." Thalia said. "Don't be a coward."

"Oi! You go then. Think you're so good."

"Because I am."

"Then go on." Nox raised his voice slightly in pitch. "Show us what your made of."

"I already lead us here safely."

"Safely? You knocked out one dude because he looked at you funny. Not surprising…"

He should not have said that.

Xida didn't have the reflexes to try and stop Thalia's charge. Nox side stepped, appearing back in her position. They had switched places in two seconds.

Thalia made a loud roar of rage. Charging once more. Nox turned and ran, not fearing the _clunk_ coming from the hall anymore, with Thalia hot on his tail, he ran straight towards the source, the door at the end.

Nox tried the handle, it didn't budge. He wasted valuable time trying to budge a locked door, Thalia collided with him, sending them both through the door as if it were made of wood, small amounts of dust soon blowed over them, shrouding them on the other side of the door in a small fog.

Xida and Pheebs stood at the entrance, they slowly looked to each other.

"She do this often?"

"Not quite like this, but…yes. Somewhat often."

The ominous sounding _clunks_ had stopped, no noise apart from the heavy breaths of Xida could be heard.

"Shall we?" he asked.

"Let's."

-XXX-

Kurt thought he would be killed from the impact, it hurt like hell. But he was still breathing. _Barely._

"Jee-" He tried to wheeze. But Thalia was crushing him, she looked about ready to start smashing. She was pressing her metric tonne body on his chest. It was surprising for him to still being able to breath, if ever so slightly.

He barely saw her fly off of him a moment later from some source in the cloud of dust.

"Jeez, woman. It was just a…" He just realized how she had been shoved off of him. A massive figure had the slightly smaller Muton pinned with two massive arms.

Kurt stood up, brushing the dust off of him. He walked over.

"Hey, thanks for-" The figure kicked him back with one equally large leg. He tumbled back to the ground, now in much more pain than before.

He lay almost in his original spot when Phoebe and Xida had walked in through the hole in the door. He gave a thumbs up rather than talk.

Xida walked to the figure while Phoebe crouched next to him.

"Nox, Nox you alright?"

"Oh…" He couldn't speak. She helped him up, not five minutes in and he was beaten up by two people, not the best day in a hotel.

The dust soon cleared, the massive figure was a human. One so large it could be mistaken for the Muton it had pinned. The man..no, _woman._ Was the biggest human he had ever seen. Even body builders couldn't compare to this.

Her hair was short, face was rigid, arms like canons. It had Thalia locked in place on the ground, ready to snap her arm in a moment's notice.

"You want room?" She asked. _What kind of accent was that?_

She stared at Thalia, who grew restless in her struggle against the ever tightening hold.

"I need an answer." She held her firm. No one budged.

" _Now._ "

"Yeah, yes we do." It was Phoebe who said it. Kurt knew the accent, Turkish? _Possibly._

"Very good." She pronounced it ' _Goot'_ and released Thalia's arm. Thalia sat up straight, clutching her sore arm.

"We need information." Xida said bluntly.

"I know room. I know price. For you? Hmmm, sixty, one night."

"We want to know what you know about ADVENT in Europe."

"I know not of no Europe." _Yeroop._

"It's important." Phoebe said. "Super important."

"Room and board are important." She said back.

Thalia grunts. "Change your mind now, next time won't be so easy."

At this, the strong woman smiled a great white smile. The teeth were so pristine, but sharp and deadly, as if she were a tiger.

"Alright, you win. We talk." She clasps her hands. "Follow me." She goes through the hole were the door was, and out to the street.

Into what most locals call _The Under-Pit._

-XXX-

Neska, Central and the Commander were already waiting at the entrance. They hadn't found out much, however they did get a few plans for a few proving ground projects (as Shen had requested a number of times) that could be useful. They spied Luc and Ana walking up the steps to them.

"Back already?" The Commander asked.

Ana held out the folder. She scanned it before handing it over to Central.

"Hmm…Nothing out there last we checked. How did you get this?" Central looked up at them.

"Nothing we couldn't handle." Luc replied. "Only had to shoot up a glass restaurant to get it."

"Thought I heard some gunshots before. I thought I said to be discre…" But the Commander was cut off by Kurt, who was on the comms talking in a rush.

"Commander! Come in please."

"Go ahead."

"We got a…situation here."

"Don't tell me you pissed off the Muton's."

"Well…Not me….OK maybe a little."

"Where are you?"

-XXX-

"Oh…Bollocks."

It was similar to one of those old Roman Colosseum's. Hundreds of people sat around a big pit in a wide circle. Screaming and yelling at nothing. Dozens of bookies took bets from almost everyone in the crowd, they held trays filled with endless strips of paper, not to mention old world money notes.

"Is it really worth it?" Central said. They all stood above the crowd on the stadiums edge. Kurt had just finished explaining what happened. Phoebe and Xida had been sitting on a few chairs nearby, watching contently.

"We have what we need. Just get Thalia to come out, were leaving."

"That will be difficult to do." Xida said. "Once in a fight, no Muton would dare back away."

"I somewhat regret letting you guys come out here with us." The Commander sighs, as if talking to children. "Come on, let's see what happens." She takes a seat next to Xida, who had to take two for himself alone due to his size.

They all joined them, sitting in the furthest row from the arena. Two doors stood on opposite sides of the fighting pit. The pit itself was littered with blood, most was red, but even yellow blood could be seen as well. All of it was splattered randomly as if a child had painted it.

"Maybe this is why you don't hand out many alliances, Commander." Central said, nudging the Commanders left shoulder.

"I would say I prefer the old days, but I don't."

Suddenly an announcer called out. He walked across the pit with a microphone. He had announced the two fighters be 'Stelia the Strong' and 'Thalia the Tough'.

"Huh, already got herself a nickname." Luc said in amusement.

After the announcer vaulted into the crowd over a small barrier. The two bared doors swung open. Revealing the contenders. Thalia wasted no time in charging the fifty or so meter gap between her and Stelia.

Just when she was about to collide, Stelia took one step to the right, and brought her fist down onto the back of Thalia's head. She collapsed to the ground, shaking the floor somewhat.

The crowd threw themselves upwards, cheering and howling many insults and cries.

"Well, she didn't last very long." Phoebe said with a mouthful of food. She had ordered something from one of the bookies. She munched away happily, no one noticed her order anything.

"Nope." Central snatched the food away from her, reaching across Xida to do so. It looked like popcorn, suspicious popcorn. "Commander?" he offered.

"No way."

It was then that Thalia had picked herself up from her fall. The crowd stopped yelling as she swiped Stelia's knees from underneath her with her own legs. Stelia regained her footing quickly, but this gave Thalia a few critical moments to act.

Thalia grabbed hold of Stelia's arm, and pulled it at an angle that shouldn't be possible. Her arm was twisted the wrong way, and it bent halfway down between her elbow and wrist. Folded up like a piece of paper.

 _Click_

A fair few of ' _ohhh'_ and ' _ahhh's_ could be heard from the crowd. Even the Commander got a weird feeling in her own right arm from witnessing that.

Stelia stumbled backwards, pulling her lips back across her teeth, she was laughing. She grabbed her folded arm, and twisted it back into its original position. The many cracks that rang out of her arm sounded a lot like a machine gun.

 _Criketa-dikeretta-crack_

Thalia again threw herself at her. Throwing punches in quick succession with both arms. Yet against all doubt, Stelia dodged and blocked with just her one arm, even hitting Thalia a few times in the face. Even with one arm down, Stelia was still winning the fight.

"Luc…" The Commander started.

"Yeah?"

"Rig the fight."

"What?"

"She's not going to get this, and we're wasting time. Just rig it, now."

"How am I gonna do that?"

They all now looked at him.

"Oh…"

He stood up, and walked down to the front rows, passing by many other spectators. An old Asian man stopped him, extending his arm out to block Luc's path. His face was slightly chubby, but his blue eyes told him he was not one to be messed with. The man also wore a bright yellow jacket, he looked familiar…But not quite.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'd ask you the same thing. But I've got something to do first."

Suspecting a fight, Luc readied himself. But the man dropped his arm. Luc walked to the front row without further delay, the Asian man didn't take his eyes off of him.

Luc pushed and nudged his way passed the piling crowd at the pit barrier. He influenced people's minds to move out of his way, clearing a fine path to the barrier. He could see Thalia getting hammered. Quite literally, someone had thrown a hammer into the fight and Stelia had picked it up.

Luc didn't have his amplifier on him, but he didn't need it. He could influence his victims without it. He focused on the two fighters, he could do a number of things, help or hinder either one.

No one knew how what happened next was possible. Just like Luc had done to Phoebe, he had now done it to Thalia, she had stood up without using her hands. And proceeded to pummel Stelia with brutal force. Her hands went bloody within moments, but Stelia stood strong, her hands soaked in yellow more than Thalia's red ones.

It wouldn't be enough. He had a small vision of his mind merge. He could see Thalia laying limp in a few minutes time.

He pushed himself farther, straining his mind further than he had ever done in the Psi Lab. He weakened Stelia's arms, while maintaining Thalia's own. His head grew in immense pain. As if someone had stabbed his skull in with a boiling knife.

 _Just a little longer._

He shared the pain of Thalia, and Stelia's. Not of his own will, he felt every punch, every scrap of skin, every drop of blood as if it were his own. He grew faint, but persisted, he felt like screaming, but never did. Stelia's mind began to become disoriented.

Stelia began to stumble.

Thalia gained the advantage.

The crowd was getting restless.

 _Clunk, crack, crikketa_

…

Then nothing, Luc closed his eyes, which had begun to bleed.

He had not noticed that Thalia was victorious. He blocked out all thought, all noise. Contempt to sit in his mind forever, even the slightest of movements would cause him pain.

He did not notice Ana was tapping his shoulder. Calling his name as if she was a mile away.

"Luc?"

He was hunkered next to the barrier, the crowd had dispersed, running up to the bookies to take their winnings.

She coiled herself down into a small pile, coming down to his level, he was bleeding from his nose an eyes, the small red lines trickled down to his neck.

"Luc? You alright?" she said with concern in her voice.

He took a moment before responding. "I would be lying…" he coughed. "..If I said yes."

He wiped his face. Drenching his hand slightly in the red blood. His headache had started to ease away. He felt like he had the biggest hangover.

He could swear his mine felt slightly better when Ana helped him up using her arms, her slightly cold scales pressed against his right side, it was chilling, but he didn't mind the contact.

"Let's get out of here…She won right?"

"Yes…you mind is quite alight isn't it? I'll remind her to thank you later. She's celebrating."

Indeed, Thalia was throwing up her arms in celebration, towering over her newfound fans. Perhaps he should've bet on her, but he was definitely _not_ going to do that again. Stelia lay on the ground, and was still smiling and laughing. "Good fight!" She called out, even though she looked like she would die at the slightest touch.

Ana was impressed with his efforts. She could only imagine the pain that must have caused. She clutched him slightly tighter as she helped him up the stairs.

-XXX-

It turned out the Asian man from before was named 'Dan' and he was on old operative from XCOM twenty years back. The thirty eight year old didn't even think twice when the Commander asked him If he wanted to rejoin. He said that he 'found the Psi Op fascinating' and he 'couldn't wait to get back into the swing of things'. The old grenadier was a good man, he treated the aliens with as much respect as he did to the Commander.

Luc had stayed in his room (more like cell) in the newfound Psi Lab, he stayed here to train his abilities, now he stayed here to recover from his wounds he himself inflicted.

The purple tendrils of the void flowed through him like water on a river bed. It came from a small _thing_ on the roof of his room, he lay on his bed, staring aimlessly into the source of the void energy, it was somewhat like a small black hole you would see in outer space.

No aliens were allowed onto the Avenger, so he couldn't speak or think to Ana. Only when they land would the aliens be allowed into the hanger bay _only._ But they would land soon enough. Ready for whatever Roofey had gave intel on.

He dreamt his usual strange dreams again. He knew it was the medallion at fault, but still he could not take it off. Maybe if Ana did…

He slept.

-XXX-

"Commander," Central had entered her quarters, holding a small data pad in his hand. "you're not going to believe this…the intel we got from Luc and Ana lead us to a small signal. An emergency beacon. It's one of ours..from the original invasion."

"Not possible, are you saying…"

"I know it sounds crazy, but if there's a chance some of our people are still…"

"Do it Central, we cannot delay."

"Roger that." And Central left.

A few days passed, they later learned of the beacons origin.

It lead them to the only other Skyranger they ever had. The one flown by none other than Big Sky. Apparently it was in use rather recently. She had this investigated as soon as possible.

But somewhere nearby the Skyranger's crash site, a deadly predator lay in waiting in its new home. It sensed the XCOM personnel and there alien allies the moment they touched down some distance away. It stood up to its full height in anticipation.

The hunt had begun.


	12. Chapter 12

The wreckage of Big Sky was a dreadful place. The Skyranger was stuck in the centre of a dense swamp. Moss draped over the wings of the old aircraft, and the grey coat of paint had withered away over the many years of immobilisation.

It sat in the shadow of great bushy trees, and it drowned in the liquids of nature. There wasn't much clearing for the Avenger to land nearby, so two of the dropships were used to get in close. They transported some humans along with them, Central took charge for the small expedition of engineers.

Luc held the railing above him as if her were on a train waiting for the next stop. He had his gear at the ready, as they all did. Trust was still new to the three species, Luc hoped it wouldn't take long for them all to talk to each other freely. It would be a long war, they best get used to one another sooner rather than later. _Guess old wounds may never heal._

The one named Neska stood next to him in anticipation. She had been wondering how to speak to him for the whole ride to the site. She decided not spit it out plainly. She had to show her recognition of his mercy back at the facility.

"Thank you." She had trouble comprehending that she had thanked a human for the first time in her reasonably short life. Fifteen years in human terms wasn't very long, but to her kind she had reached maturity.

Luc gave a small smile and a nod in return. He didn't need to ask what it was for. "No problem." He turned back to gaze out to the swamp.

"Why did you do it?" she asked him.

Luc pondered on this question. He truly didn't know himself, the face of his dying limbless friend came to his mind. He pushed the image away.

"I have no idea." Luc said truthfully.

"Really?" She though him mad.

Of course, Luc could hear her, he looked at himself from her eyes, indeed, he may be slightly on the downside of his sanity. His general appearance gave much of it away. Perhaps the constant presence of other thoughts drove him closer to the edge, he always wondered what a crazy person felt like, perhaps this was it. Inside his head he laughed, but on the outside, he didn't.

"I guess I couldn't just murder you then and there."

"Most of your XCOM allies would have killed me if they had that chance. What gave you reason not to?" she countered.

"You should thank Ana for that." And after that, he said no more.

The ships landed some distance away from the wreckage. The engineers wasted no time in picking over the remains like vultures on a corpse. Each time someone took a step, the muddy dirt would swallow their legs up whole. The Angelko couldn't traverse the soft terrain. One of the completely black Vipers had herself sunken her body halfway into the marsh. She had to be pulled free by three Mutons alone, plus a human or two. Her rifle was dropped, and it could not be seen, no one wanted to go and search for it, so the Angelko remained on the high and tough ground, keeping watch.

The Skyranger had several small crates, the faded logo of XCOM could still be seen upon most of them. The engineers examined all of them. Luc patrolled around the southern perimeter with Neska, across hard terrain so she didn't get stuck. One of the XCOM crates had tumbled some fair distance from the wreckage. It sat at Luc's feet when he spotted it hidden in the ground.

He wiped the moss and dirt from the half buried box, he got on his knees which stuck to the ground slightly, and pried off the lid. A small trail of sticky substance presented itself around the edges as he lifted the lid. The interior was pristine, as if no amount of dirt or swamp had impacted the silky white cushion inside.

Laying atop the white cushions, was a well preserved and odd axe. Its design was honed to an incredible degree. It looked ancient, yet had that futuristic look to it as well.

The blade was curved at the back, the handle looked almost like wood. Yet when he picked it up it felt like metal, and the axe was somewhat light in his hands, he lifted it up at its base, on the other end was a small silver tooth (somewhat like a fang), the sharp metal glinted in the sunlight.

"Not much use at range." Neska remarked from behind him.

Luc went back to the box, another axe was inside, they both crossed over each other like a small 'X'. Both of them were identical in design.

He held one axe in each hand. Swinging them in small arcs, the blades sung with every swipe.

"Throwing axes." he said. "Just as deadly as bullets."

One of the human engineers took them into his hands when Luc reported them in. He had them stashed in a separate crate in one of the dropships. Luc peered inside it, he could see other weapons, a small old fashioned pistol, and a rifle that looked somewhat like a bow. Kurt had later found a small blue grenade. Which was placed with the other odd objects.

"Any idea what these might be?" Kurt had asked him as they lifted off back towards the Avenger after an hour of further searching.

Some strange feeling came over Luc. The weapons were familiar, as if they were long lost toys of his early childhood.

"Not a clue."

-XXX-

"LET ME OUT! I CANT….NO MORE."

Luc opened his eyes slowly from his deep slumber.

"PLEASE GOD NO! STOP IT!"

Luc was in his cell, the power of Solace, and the sustaining of his body had been learnt within this week. He wanted his rest, not more interruptions.

"It's OK Velia, I'm sending someone down." It was the thin white line on a terminal near the doorway that spoke, announcing the Commanders presence to the whole Psi Lab.

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!"

 _Jeez, how can I rest with screaming banshees every other day?_

Two scientists had walked in from the main hall a minute later. They wore matching white lab coats, the man and woman quickly unlocked the second cell across from Luc's. Which was a mirrored design of his own.

They each grabbed the woman's shoulders to support her out of the cell. Hitting a switch near the door on the outside, this switch shut off the voids energy in Velia's room, closing it off with a small _swish._

"No, no no no no no no….." Velia said as she was taken out of the lab. She was yet another soul that had her mind almost crushed by the voids initial pressure.

"It's pointless Commander, what is this? Ten? Twelve more who have failed?" Luc said without looking the white line on the wall.

Despite the numerous attempts to improve the supply of Psi Operatives, the department of Psionics came up lacking. They had their fair share of Rangers, Grenadiers, Sharpshooters and Specialist's. But Luc was alone when it came to his 'Class' of operatives.

"Your right Luc. I still can't figure out why _you_ are the only one to develop the potential, at least back in the day we had a few more than one…"

"Perhaps I could be of some assistance to this matter." One of the scientists had come back through the door. He was Tygan, the chief of the whole science division. He wore small thin glasses, and his bald head seemed to shine off the purple light.

"You have Luc here very busy with recent events, perhaps now that we wait to track the old Skyranger's last location, I can delve deeper into Luc's gift. With you approval of course."

"Very well, make it so. But should anything come up, we need our strongest to deal with any trouble."

"Your too kind Commander." But she didn't respond to Luc, she was gone.

"Come then Luc." Tygan waved one arm towards the door

Luc opened the glass door with little effort. And followed the scientist to the research labs.

-XXX-

In the hanger bay, Ana stood with Xida next to a table filled with weapons found from the old aircraft XCOM used to use. She recognised one of the weapons, the rifle that looked like a bow.

A short Asian woman with black hair stood nearby, Central was with her.

"Any of these familiar to you?" Central asked.

She pointed to the bow rifle. "Similar to one of ours, old model very devastating."

"Shen, think you could duplicate these things? They might be useful, our arsenal could use more weapons.."

"Only one way to find that out Central." Shen said, she turned to Ana. "Perhaps you could test out how to use this rifle in the shooting range?"

She had expected Central, or any of the humans to recoil at this. But Central only gave a small uncomfortable shuffle. The human engineers looked somewhat confused.

"If that is what you wish."

"It is. Let's go."

Ana had to go alone, Xida was to remain in the hanger while she went down below the ship. One long vertical ladder lead straight to the depths of the ship. She was the first to climb down. Central, Shen and a guard had followed her down the ladder. She scaled it like she had done to buildings, with much ease and little effort.

A few racks of weapons lined one wall, parts of armour and guns sat on the other. Between them was a barricade of boxes, down the hall was a photo of a Muton, stuck across more boxes.

"Maybe that's why you didn't allow Xida down…" she said looking at the odd looking Muton.

"Your right about that. Now." She hands her the rifle. "What's this thing called?"

Ana went through the steps of the weapon's use. She had pronounced it as something no human could understand, but it roughly meant 'Caster' in the human language. The trigger had to be held for about three seconds. No more or less, lest the Caster would overheat, or lose its speed when firing.

She had fired one thin bolt of death into the Muton picture, it tore through the crates and impaled into the wall behind it. It was a satisfying and impressive sight to behold, she had not used one of these since her training off world.

"We need Tygan to look into these as soon as possible." Central had said. A high pitched scream of a women pierced Ana's hearing. Shen had slightly squirmed underneath the hearing. The screaming could be faintly converted to words filled with terror…

"Please god! Stop it!" the voice cried. It grew ever more quieter after a minute, the screams from above had died down.

"Who was that?" Ana said while looking up at the roof..

"We have some issues in one of the lab's. But anyway, let's get these things to Tygan's lab. He may want a demonstration as well. You want to help us get them to him?" Shen asked Ana.

"Shen, no aliens are allowed into…"

"It's OK Central, Ana can tell us more about this weapon to the both of us. We will be out before you know it. So, Ana?"

Ana gave a slight smile. "I understand your hesitance Central, I will help your…'Tygan' and you as well, Shen."

They went and packed the gear into crates that hovered off the ground slightly, and left for the labs, were Tygan had taken Luc.

-XXX-

"Well, isn't that interesting…"

"What do you mean?"

Tygan examined the many strands of DNA on a small screen. Luc hadn't been a great fan of needles, but Tygan only took a small amount off his arm, he was glad it was over, or so he thought. Tygan also had taken a number of X-ray's after pondering on the blood sample, this went on for longer than Luc thought it would.

"Your DNA is unlike anything I've ever seen, at least…some of it."

Luc peaked over his shoulder, the strands that made up his blood looked normal to him. But he remembered something from the clinic in the city, his disease, his curse. It seemed to have gone away. Luc was a fool to think Tygan wouldn't notice this, as he found out after ten or so minutes of scanning through his blood and X-rays of his chest.

Tygan didn't expect to find such an anomaly in his DNA. He had only ever seen this in his time when working in a Gene Clinic. He need only a glance to know the problem.

"Luc, I just found something I think you…"

"Its fine Tygan, I already know."

"Fine? It certainly is not fine, I have to report this to the commander." Tygan walked over to one of the terminals that usually had the thin white line, but it was currently switched off.

Luc could do little to stop him. The moment he would release Tygan from mind control he would tell someone. Then he would be in a world of hurt, assaulting the chief scientist wasn't a good idea, but it was tempting. _What am I thinking? Tempting?_

"Commander?" Tygan had switched the screen on. "I have news regarding your psionic operative…"

"Yes Tygan? Have you found out anything?"

"Luc here, has _lung cancer."_

The silence that passed was short lived. Luc had stood up from sitting on the small bed. He was angry at the 'loud mouth' that stood before him.

Luc was about to talk some foul language, but the Commander got a word in first. "Luc." He could feel that she was shaking her head in confusion. "Why did you not tell us this?"

"It doesn't even bother me! I don't even look like I do, do I?" Luc said defensively.

They all knew this was true. He looked perfectly healthy in terms of appearance, he hadn't coughed blood or ran short of breath ever since his left the desert. He told this to them, and the Commander asked a very important question after a moment of thinking. Tygan stayed quiet, truly this was unusual, even for him.

"Was it worse before you left the haven?"

"Yes."

"About the time you lost your memory."

"What about it?"

"That was when it got better, yes?"

"I think so."

"Tygan, return to your research into Luc's DNA, second highest priority. Find out why a guy with cancer can still be walking around like nothing's wrong. But make it quick, we have a lead on where the Skyranger took off from, and I want Luc in there."

Tygan insisted that Luc remain in the Avenger, and that the battlefield was no place for someone like Luc anymore. But she wanted him in the fight, regardless of his status. Saying that keeping him indoors was a waste of time and resources. She was right, and wrong at the same time.

"Tygan, can we keep this…off the records? I don't want the others to know about this."

"I keep my clients privacy as my highest priority, but you shouldn't keep this a secret, it could get worse very soon, if it hasn't already."

As if on cue, Ana and Shen had walked in a moment later. Luc acted like nothing had happened, while Tygan prepped another needle.

"Doctor, we have some unique weapons we need to study right away." Shen had two crates behind her, Ana was pulling them with her, she gave a smile to Luc, which he returned to his best ability, she did notice this, but thought little of it.

"Very well Shen, just one more blood test for Lance here." He held up a long needle with both hands.

"That's one giant needle, how you holding up Lance?" Shen said.

"Well, I'm alright, nothing too bad, I don't mind.." Tygan had jabbed the needle into his arm mid sentence. Luc did his best to keep a neutral face, but he couldn't help but curl his face up, as if he was punched in the face, his boasting was short lived.

"Nothing too bad, huh?" Shen smirked. Luc shook his head, the needle was released after a few seconds. The pain had eased after that.

"That should be enough, so what is it you found?" Tygan said as he put the needle away.

The rifle Ana held was demonstrated again, this time it was unloaded, Tygan took notes, and looked on to the other weapons after Ana was done.

"These are truly fascinating, I wish to look into these as soon as possible."

"Already ahead of you…" Shen had already pulled out the pistol thing. She and Tygan began talking endlessly to each other, leaving Luc and Ana to themselves. They didn't even say goodbye when the human and alien had left the lab.

"Guess you're allowed into the Avenger now?" Luc said as they walked back to the hanger.

"Maybe."

"I could show you around if you'd like." He felt a weird feeling in his stomach, he was almost asking her out, in a way.

"I was only to go with Shen and come back quickly. But I wish I could see the rest of this place." Ana said, looking through open doorways that they past, a workshop, another different kind of building area, and a small purple room.

"What is that place?" She asked, looking into the room from the doorway.

"The Psi Lab, where I hang out. Want to check it out?" he asked, somewhat excited.

She nodded in agreement, just a few minutes of exploration couldn't hurt. She entered and saw two glass rooms, each had one bed and one table. All of it was white, except the purple energy that came from within the roofs of the small rooms.

He explained how it worked, to his best knowledge, he would let it flow through him, allowing him to train his mind to use new abilities, it was fascinating and confusing at the same time.

"How long would you sit in here to train?" She had asked, looking at the bland table, and the pristine bed. She wondered how such a little room could be comfortable to anyone. Though they did set up small tents when the humans landed and scanned the area, at least her tent was bigger than this.

"Longest I've been is about four days."

"Four?" She asked, shocked.

"They say it should go on for longer, but I guess I train quickly, the scientists thought it would take weeks at a time, but I proved them wrong."

This reminded her of his blood testing by the one named 'Tygan'. Perhaps they wanted to know about his fast learning gift as well.

"Are you the only one to have the gift? I see there's room for another." She motioned over to the other room.

"That's the dark part of this lab. Everyone but me leaves this place screaming their lungs out. You probably heard the last one earlier. It's a risky business, but at least the quiet returns when they leave."

Ana did hear the screaming, she could imagine the pain they would endure. She had felt some connection to the energy coming from the roof, and therefore could feel Luc's mind as well, she could just about recognise his emotions. The moment she realised this she questioned him more and more.

She closed her eyes when she talked again. "Do you ever get lonely in here?"

Luc felt her presence in his mind, he rather enjoyed it, he then realised the truth behind his answer. The quiet never bothered him, he rather embraced the solitude, he became hypnotised by the small connection to her. He wanted more. He knew he hated the solitude, he lied to himself about that.

"Yes." But if it was the real Luc. He would have denied it, however something made him express himself differently. "Yes, it bothers me." he said this with undying truth.

Ana also felt entranced, the moment she had recognised the tendrils of his mind reaching out, begging to connect to anything, she embraced it without knowing. She felt wonderful, as if she was connected to an Angelko on a deep level.

Part of Luc wanted to break the contact, but he could not let go of such a feeling. He felt Ana's presence like air through his lungs.

"I hate the loneliness, always have."

Behind Luc's answers was a pain, a terrible pain, one he hadn't told her about, only mentioning it briefly back in the city of New Isa.

 _You're not the only one dying, Ana, I have a similar fate._ This memory played through both of their heads.

"What do you mean by that?" She asked, but her tone had changed, she said this rather forcefully, almost impatiently.

"No…nothing…" Luc's inner self had begun fighting him. His mind was trying to close off to her, but she persisted. She focused on the pain, bringing it out from the back of his mind. Some unknown cause wanted her to find out what it was. The pain was hidden in himself, as if reserved. She pried and pried into him.

 _Why do you hide it? Let me see._

 _No!_

Luc stumbled out of the door to his room. Clutching his head. This wasn't right, this wasn't him, and this wasn't her. His eyes burned when he tried to open them. So he felt for the wall instead, trying to grab hold of the switch to shut off the void. It took him a few bumps into the wall before he felt his way out the doorway.

It had been pleasant at first, but now they both were under the influence of their own greed for knowledge. Only Luc had managed to control a part of himself, Ana sat on the bed, assaulting his mind with her own, she hadn't felt this much power in her whole life, not even the Queen could compare to this. No amount of psionic connection could be thought possible. It was so much, too much, but she let it control her, she couldn't help but embrace it.

All the while, not a sound was made, no one could hear the screams of the minds, no one could. If an Angelko was nearby they might have, but none were on board. They were trapped in each other. A humans mind twisted into an aliens.

Luc managed to catch the switch with one finger, he pulled it, but his finger slipped off of it. The pain was becoming unbearable, he started coughing, he didn't need his eyes to know what the substance on the floor had to be. His knees buckled, and he leant against the wall to keep himself upright. Again he used his hand to find the switch, he got a hold on it once more. But he couldn't keep himself up, he collapsed to the ground. Ana had stood up and was pushing him away from the switch, neither of them could see, but he knew she was the one to push him down.

She pulled the pain into existence, she could just barely make sense of it, some sort of _disease_ within his body…

But his grip was true, the lever was pulled down with him, and the void was closed. He tumbled to the ground, his eyes didn't open, and he stopped making sense of the world. His mind was closed again.

Ana had opened her eyes after some time, she lay on the ground, her tail stretched to the bed a meter away, and she was sprawled halfway out the door to Luc's room. One arm was next to her, the other had been laying in front of her. Luc was on his back in front of her, his own hand on top of hers.

Small amounts of blood could be seen near his head, it dribbled out of his mouth slightly. She brought her tail to her body, and coiled next to him.

"Luc?"

No response.

"…Luc?"

Nothing. She focused her senses, his heartbeat couldn't be heard. She used the sleeve of his grey shirt to wipe the blood from his face. She shook him again. Calling his name over and over.

"Please..wake up! Luc!"

But he did not.

"I'm so sorry. Luc…I'm so sorry…"


	13. Chapter 13

"Luc, it was too soon for you. We will fight on for you. But today marks a great loss for us all. Let us never forget you as one of the greatest contributors to humanity."

Central had read out the epitaph in the memorial. Luc's small photo seemed to give off light to all the other names of the fallen soldiers on the wall of remembrance. Almost all of XCOM had gathered in and around the memorial area. The hanger was filled with rows of soldiers, saluting in acknowledgement of the fallen. Inside the memorial was Kurt, Phoebe, Central, the Commander and even Dan, who respected the Psionic operative even though he knew very little about him. None of them held their heads up high, the loss of Luc would haunt them for a long time.

When the Commander heard the final words said by Phoebe, who was the last to speak of him. She turned out into the hanger bay. She walked in between the rows of her soldiers, they didn't move a muscle when she passed them, yet they all shared in sorrow. Losing a soldier is hard, Luc was special….But no one believed that. Luc was just another soldier, who was insane, who had a mad idea that an alliance would work. Now she could let the aliens go…

She reached the hangers edge. Ana and her traitorous friends stood on the top of the ramp….She wanted to execute them all, not for Luc. For herself, she hated them…

"We had a delicate alliance, I wish you all well….No. _You_ broke this alliance, we will let you go without delay, but If we cross paths again, we will not hesitate to fight you..to the death." The Commander held out her hand….But took it back, this 'Ana' didn't deserve such respect.

Ana nodded, and left for the dropships. She had boarded the last one to take off when she noticed her hand was shaking, it was covered in the blood of Luc. She tried to wipe it off, but it had dried into her scales, marking her a murderer. She would never truly wash away her friend's death, nor his blood from her hand. It would soak into her very soul forever.

It was all her fault, no one thought otherwise.

She had cried then, she would cry now. Because Luc and Ana had failed. Soon the three dropships would be found and destroyed, they would become but burning wrecks, housing those who fought for a lost cause. Perhaps Ana would die before that day, killed by her friends? Killed herself? It didn't matter, they would all perish one way or another. The Avenger would meet a similar fate. Because, truth be told, they were doomed from the start.

What a waste of time this alliance was anyway. It all hinged on little more than words. It only needed one slip up and they would tear each other apart. The corrupt dream of XCOM had been thwarted, and the world would be all better for its defeat.

Now humanity could finally rest. And take its place among the ADVENT coalition as one of the greatest species to ever have been found and saved by the Elders. No more would XCOM plague the earth anymore. They failed then, they failed _now._ The universe was saved.

-XXX-

…

Silence.

…

 _Do you not agree?_

…

 _They say your life's memories flood your eyes before death. How was a glimpse at the future instead? Its rather fascinating to me._

All was black, there was nothing, no thought, no presence. Only the voice.

 _Human's, for as long as they existed, always dreamt of seeing what lies ahead of time, now that I have shown you..Is it not terrifying? Or is it beautiful?_

He saw the wreckage, he saw the destruction of XCOM, the deaths of all those he knew, the aliens included. His friend Ana, now a shell of her former self.

Ana lay, coiled up near one of the destroyed dropships, rifle in hand, she was dead, shot through the head. She was but one of the many corpses that littered the final battle in this field of death. This field was unrecognisable, but that didn't matter. He couldn't move to her, and there was nothing he could do, no control over his still form.

 _No, this can't be happening._

 _But it is, isn't it? At least, it will…no matter what you do._

Now time seemed to rewind, suddenly the dropship was no longer on fire, and Ana was firing at shadows that seemed to shoot beams of light back at her. She fought, she died. This played over and over like a tape on rewind. This was too much, but he couldn't close his eyes. The pain tore through him like a blade.

 _Stop it._

 _You can't stop fate._

Now he stood in the memorial, he was next to Central, who read out his epitaph. Luc couldn't speak, no one recognised him, he didn't take long to figure out he wasn't really there, he passed through people like a ghost, which for all he know, he was. He cried out, begging to be heard, but his voice was unheard, merely a croak came out of his throat.

 _It's been a while hasn't it? You've certainly kept yourself busy._

The voice source soon appeared in front of Central. It wore a red robe, it was tall, it had an odd helmet. An Elder, in the flesh, it was looking at the wall of the fallen soldiers.

 _Just an Elder you say? Do you not remember me?_

The feminine voice laughed lightly, mocking him, mocking his intellect, nothing different there, everyone hated him, Luc was stupid, and he knew it.

 _Not mocking, just checking._

 _Who are you?_

Suddenly his voice could be heard from the Elder, like a memory of something that never happened. _Who's there? Tell me who you are!_ His old voice called out. It didn't sound like him, maybe a bit, but not much.

 _Gulisa, does that ring a bell?_

He had no idea what that was.

 _Why am I here?_

 _Your going the wrong way, you're heading down the path to death._

Suddenly he found himself falling, down to the Psi Lab. He saw his own body, Ana hunkered next to it, was she crying? She was speaking to his corpse in a soft and soothing tone. It almost brought him to tears to see her like this.

 _I'm so sorry, I…Please…Wake up!_

 _She is remarkable isn't she? She doesn't even know how important she is. The same goes for you. Neither of you know who you are. But perhaps it's just better that way._

 _Am I dead?_

Shedidn't respond.

He felt so guilty, he had made such a mistake to let her into the lab, her psionic gift of her kind, he should have thought about that sooner. He forgot completely about it in his blindness.

 _Yes, she connected to your mind like an Angelko would do to another Angelko, your mind collapsed in on itself, you should be dead._

 _But I am not?_

Suddenly they were both atop a small building, down below there was fighting in the streets of some city. Human, Viper, Muton, all stood fast against oncoming waves of ADVENT. This was the final goal for Luc, a unity of races like no other.

 _XCOM thinks it can remove us from the planet, and live there old lives in peace. But now that_ you _have alien allies, what happens to them? Do they get a say in the future if your cause wins? Do they get cast out once they become useless? Will your Ana be but a prisoner in some cell? Or maybe she dies before the end?_

Now they were in a small ADVENT themed room. Central was picking up a red humanoid suit. Nearby in the next room, Kurt and someone else stood on watch. They blew up a wall and ran outside, three ropes dangled out of the Skyranger, they took one each and flew off. ADVENT shot at them as they fled.

 _This moment marked the beginning of the end. If we fall, you will to. We need you, the Commander, everyone. And you need us, yet you force us to fight you, all for some lost dream of XCOM, that leads only to your own demises._

 _Why? Why do you need us?_

 _More will come for your planet, ones more powerful than my kind, they will do worse things to you than simply take over. They won't let you wonder the planet in a ship for more than a week, you will all be found within days._

 _So what's the point of telling me? I'm dead. And you've shown me the deaths of my friends._

 _You're not dead…not yet anyway. I just came to warn you of what happens at the end of your road your on, it's a dead end. You know that right? A road with no destination. You should think about changing course while you still can._

 _Why will I live? How did my mind collapse and not kill me?_

 _You will have to look to your elders for that answer….Oh, did you forget about them? Did you forget about your father? Your mother?_

…

 _Who are they?_

 _You really want to know?_

…

 _I won't tell you._

 _Tell me!_

 _It doesn't matter, you won't listen to me anyway._

 _Yes, I will._

 _You don't even remember me. Your mind can't handle this, not even someone as special as you can do anything about it._

They stood in a dark graveyard now. Several graves lined up before him, he left the Elder's side and walked forward and examined the tombstone closest to him. It bore his name, and below that:

 **PURSUED A DEAD DREAM, KILLED BY ANA**

Now he looked to the ones next to his own, they were those he knew, they all had died by the same thing. Indira,James. Kurt, Phoebe, Xida, Thalia, and all the names of the XCOM personnel was behind them, but out front was Ana. They all read:

 **YOU KILLED US LUC**

 _You will be the end of all. And Ana, the end of you._

 _You don't know that._

 _Fate cannot be changed._

 _Screw fate. I choose my own way._

 _I told you long ago, death finds its way. Ana is your undoing, is my warning of your closing fate not enough?_

 _Let it try, I won't let it happen._

 _Your words are poorly chosen, I will try and fix things for you. I won't let your ignorance destroy us all._

 _That glance at the future…that's not what will happen. You made it up…your trying to trick me._

 _I assure you I am not, I…._

 _We will not be your slaves bitch. I will listen to you no longer._

And he walked away from the Elder, away from the graves, into the black night behind him. The Elder tried to grasp him back, but he shrugged it off, he wouldn't stay a second longer, he wanted out.

He woke, back into the fight.

-XXX-

She had been next to him for about four minutes now, which felt almost like ten. She had begun to let drops of tears hit Luc's face. She held his hand with a firm grip, demanding over and over that he wake up. She wouldn't leave his side in this state, if someone saw her like this, then so be it, she would stay with him as long as she could.

She had begun hitting his face lightly, perhaps he was just out cold, but who goes out cold with a stopped heart? She began to hit harder, more frustration was building inside her with every strike.

Mid way between a slap, his purple eyes opened. He grasped her hand which was just about to connect with his face. He squeezed and bent her other hand backwards at the same time. She hissed in pain, he threw her off with a kick, she hit the glass wall of his room with some force.

"Luc! I…"

But he lunged at her, and began throwing his fists at her, she hadn't enough time to defend herself, he hit her jaws about three times. She was taken aback by the unusual strength behind the arms. His face was full of anger and terror, he didn't stop even when she called his name over and over again.

Her instincts told her to fight, she tried resisting, but the pain was too much, she had spat poison at him before she even realised. It connected with his left shoulder, and spread around him and her, enveloping them in a sick cloud. She was about to push him out of the cloud due to the deadly vapours inside it. But he only coughed once, and kept on attacking her, he was immune to the poison, which she had never seen before.

With one desperate push, she forced her whole body onto his, they both crashed into the edge of the doorway. She spindled her tail around his legs and body, attempting to immobilise him, but Luc didn't let up one bit. He already had managed to crouch whilst hitting her lower body in the lower back. She wore her armour, but still her body felt the pain.

Using her tails strength, she winded around his legs, binding them up like rope, then she pulled her tail over his shoulders, bringing his arms inwards. She used all her strength to keep him in that position. Her upper body slightly towered over him when she hissed angrily at him.

"Stop it! It's me!"

He struggled against her tail, but he was fighting an uphill battle. But still her grip was starting to slip.

"Luc! It's Ana! _Ana!_ "

The sound of her name seemed to trip something in his mind, he lost the look of anger, as if he had just remembered something important. He stopped his struggling, now looking into her bright orange eyes, his purple ones were now filled with sadness, and a bit of terror.

"A…Ana?"

She loosened him a little, but not too much, she was still unsure if he was truly 'snapped out of it'.

"Luc? What..."

He had enough room to maneuver his arms out of her grip, she thought he would again attack her. But instead he folded his arms around her mid body, now pressing his head to her stomach area. It was a strange 'hug' since he was on his knees, and her head was well above his own. Slowly, she lowered herself until she was at his level, and folded her arms around him, returning the gesture. He was warm, so warm it heated up her slightly cooler body.

"I'm sorry, I didn't.." she started.

"It wasn't you, I know, it was my fault, I shouldn't have let you in here. I'm sorry I attacked you..I.."

"I killed you! Your heart stopped for minutes! I thought you were dead!"

"It's over,…it's over…" he whispered, now tightening his grip slightly, she did as well.

They had sat in the hug for some time, her tail was still slightly coiled around him, closing the little space between them, it was after a while did Luc finally speak again.

"You were worried about me?" He gave a small smile when he said this.

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" She had her head rested on his left shoulder, but she had lifted it up to look into his eyes.

"Cause I'm a stupid human, whose a part of a rebellion."

She detected his smirk attitude. "And I'm a stupid snake, who is also part of a rebellion."

"You're not stupid Ana, your intellect is beyond even the smartest scientists." _Smooth words, Luc._

"Thank you." It was an odd thing to say, but she liked his words.

Neither said anything for a few seconds, Luc then stated. "This is the part where you say _I'm_ not stupid."

To which she replied with "No, you are fairly dumb."

"You sly little…"

She begun to laugh, laughing like when she had during their time in New Isa. The short sets of hisses from her mouth had lit up Luc's face. He joined her, both of them forgetting that one of them had been on the brink of death not ten minutes ago.

They were interrupted with nearby footsteps from out in the hall. "Quick!" Luc whispered, and they untangled Ana's tail from his body, and stood up just in time to see Central poke his head into the doorway. He didn't look happy to see them.

"Lance, why is Ana in here? She was supposed to come straight back..And why were you two laughing?"

 _Oh god._ He thought, Ana didn't say anything, so he made up an excuse on the spot.

"Just showing her around, and I told her a joke, it was pretty good, she laughed so hard." He laughs nervously.

"Yeah, what joke?"

"Uhh…" Luc thought fast, he had heard one (or twenty) from Kurt on the day the alliance was made, he used one of those.

"What do you call a snake that tells jokes?"

Central was blank, so was Ana. He didn't ask for an answer, they just kept staring at him. So he gave the worst punch line.

"Monty Python!" Luc fakes a laugh, but whispers to Ana in mid gasp, speaking from the corner of his mouth. "C'mon Ana…" Then continues laughing. Ana did an awkward laugh, it didn't sound the least bit convincing.

"Get her back to the hanger, and you get to do one hundred push-ups in the tactics school right after, I'll see you there." Then Central left. Luc groaned in annoyance, and dread.

"Thanks, Luc."

"I regret saying that."

"I didn't get it."

"…Me neither…." They both shared a smile, then turned and left the Psi Lab.

He walked back to the hanger with her. She had reached the top of the ramp when he bid her farewell. Luc turned in to the tactics school. And Ana went back to the tents set up underneath the Skyranger.

-XXX-

"Ninety-nine…" Kurt had squatted next to Luc, who mockingly counted his push ups in stupid voices, sometimes dragging them out over a few seconds.

Luc does one more, even though he had done his little mind trick to help himself, Kurt wore a mind shield, so Luc couldn't trick Kurt either, and besides, Central said he couldn't make it, and had probably had the Commander monitor him to make sure.

"Ninety-nine."

And another.

" _Ninety-nine…"_

"Screw you." Luc gasps. "That's a hundred and one, phew…" He sat up against the wall, Kurt was staring at him, as if he saw a ghost. Luc stared back in confusion.

"What's that on your chin?" Kurt asked.

Luc wipes his face with his hand, he could just about see a small amount of red staining his palm, he wiped it on his shirt.

"Bah, sore tooth." Luc replied coolly.

"Really? I suppose we need some better toothpaste…"

Phoebe had walked in a moment later, she and another woman had started to train as well, both of them were doing chin ups on a long metal bar high off the ground almost as soon as they were done stretching.

The four of them were the only ones on the room, the girls had their backs to them, Luc and Kurt leant against the wall. Kurt stared at them, not saying a word.

"Which one you checking out?" Luc asked him, only in a whisper.

Kurt looks back at him, then at the ground. "None, just thinking."

"About _her?_ "

"Quiet!"

Just then the white line came online in the room, the Commander's robotic voice called out.

"Lance, Nox, Pheebs, to the hanger bay now."

"Yes ma'am." Kurt was the first to reply, he was already halfway out the door before Phoebe even realised he was there at all. Luc walked with her, they left the other girl behind. Phoebe had questioned Luc why Kurt ran out so quickly. Luc said he didn't know. But of course, he did.

-XXX-

The most unusual team was being sent out to investigate Big Sky's last known location to lift off from. There were seven of them. They all lined up on the hanger landing pad. From left to right, it was Kurt, Phoebe, Luc, Central (Who had a similar loadout to Kurt, but had an odd rifle that was twice the size of anyone else's) Thalia, Ana and Dan. (Nicknamed Papa, who insisted he took a sniper kit. He wanted to try something new.)

They all stood in a small 'V' in that order, the Commander managed to construct four magnetic rifles, and one MAG canon, also one suit of the new 'Predator armour'. Central had taken this suit the moment he saw it. But the only human not to get a MAG weapon was Kurt, who persisted having a shotgun. Ana had been given the 'Bolt Caster' as it was called, and Thalia stayed true to her own beam canon, which was slightly bigger than an XCOM variant. As for the other new weapons, Luc was given the 'frost bomb', the small blue grenade. And Kurt was given the axes. As for the final weapon, the 'Shadowkeeper' pistol, Dan took it, since no one else wanted it.

They stared at a wall in anticipation, must have been five minutes before Kurt spoke up.

"What the hell are we looking at?"

"Were waiting for the go from the Commander." Central replied.

"Oh."

Was it ten minutes? Fifteen? It was a while before the Commander told them that they were ready. The landing pad lifted up slowly, and they all made their way into the Skyranger behind them. Thinking fast, Luc managed to get the seat next to Ana. But he realised his mistake when Thalia sat on his left, he knew she wouldn't harm him (he thought) but sitting next to a Muton wasn't exactly something you get used to. He smiled at her as if it was normal, she merely grunted. She liked doing that.

They lifted off, and flew into the unknown.

-XXX-

When sitting in a small room with a bunch of other people, and no one speaks, people get feelings that they should start a conversation. Most of them felt this way right now, but the unfortunate soul to start this was Phoebe. Who was sitting opposite Thalia.

"So, are there many female Muton's in your army?"

"Yes."

Her plain answer made the aircraft silent again. Luc had his turn now.

"How old are you Thalia?" Luc asked randomly.

"You calling me old?"

"No! I think you look ..very young?"

"I am not some child."

 _Is she impossible to talk to?_

"I didn't say that. Take it as a…a compliment." Luc's quick thinking had paid off. Thalia seemed to ease up a bit. She then held up three fingers. He nodded, wait, what? Three years? Thirty years? Before he could think any more about it, she spoke again.

"What about you…Luc. What's your age?"

"What month is it?..." He asked himself. "Hmm…I would be twenty-seven in a few weeks."

"Is it that time already? We should celebrate!" Kurt said.

"You don't celebrate birth, do you?" Thalia commented.

"Yep, it's a human thing." Kurt replied.

"What about you Papa?" Phoebe said. "If I'm younger than Luc, whose younger than Kurt, are you the oldest human here?"

The quiet man hadn't spoken for a while. He and Central hadn't uttered a word. He smiled to her, and gave his answer.

"Thirty-eight." _Guess that's how he got his nickname._

"What!" she cried. "Then how old is…" She began to glance at Central.

"Enough!" Central interrupted. "You don't need to know that. Let's talk about the mission…"

"Lance, how old is he?" Phoebe asked. Luc didn't think twice about it, he searched for a split second, the man was in his fifties…

"No. Don't." Central warned. "Unless you want more punishment, I suggest you keep your mind to yourself."

"Will do sir."

Luc smiled when Central looked away.

-XXX-

"…Sensors cannot penetrate the rock face. We still have a steady read on Vahlen's signal however. I would advise extreme caution."

"Copy that Tygan , we'll find out what's down there."

 _Vahlen?_

"Whose Vahlen?" Luc asked.

"Our old head of the science division, the best at what she does."

The speed of the Skyranger was slowing down somewhat. They had all stood up when the lights surrounding them went yellow.

"OK people. Let's move out."

The lights went red, the ship came to a halt, and the ramp opened. Revealing what looked like a large cave entrance slightly below a small hill they landed on. They moved out into the slightly hot sun. They were out in a land slightly similar to the Australian Outback. But he was focused on the cave mouth. Pillars of weird alien design could be seen up ahead.

The wind tugged at his Kevlar, his long pants shuffled in the wind. They all approached at a slow pace.

They made a small circle formation, Central was in front, finger to his ear, listening to the Commander, probably, as they walked forwards.

To the right were several pikes, with skulls halfway down them, _human_ skulls. It was similar to how old tribes used to mark their territory. The sight sent a tremble down Luc's spine.

As Luc shuffled his feet on the brown dirt beneath him, Central held up his left hand in a fist. They were following him for a few moments, now he had stopped, looking at something on the ground nearby.

"We've got something." he said out loud, crouching down, he spied an old data pad of some sort. It played a voice of a distressed woman. He listened intently.

"…preserved at all costs! You must hurry!..."

Luc saw that the pad was next to a human skeleton, it lay against a rock. It wore ragged clothing, torn and faded over the many years. But on its lap..was it dried blood? Or just dirt?

Central stood up again. "Alright, let's get moving, cover to cover. I'll go first." He then jumped down the small platform they all stood upon, and crouched behind a small rock down below. They all followed suit, spreading out to cover more ground.

"Got a lot of skulls down here. Someone's been decorating the place."

True enough, more skulls on pikes could be seen around them, some were even on fire, whoever did this clearly didn't want anyone to come in…Yet they still approached the cave, determined to uncover the mystery that lay within. Only the sound of their own footsteps could be heard.

The cave floor turned from dirt to metal along the way, this place must have been an old base. The only entrance was a rectangular gap in the centre of a large white wall. Most of it was covered in dust, as was everything else.

They all stacked up either side of the entrance, Luc and Thalia were at the far back, behind small barriers, Central was about to move in when Luc saw movement inside.

"Hold up! Movement ahead."

Two short vipers slithered into the entrance. They looked almost identical to Neska, but these ones had lines of orange around there eyes, and carried Bolt Casters.

"Why did it have to be Vipers?" Central whispered.

-XXX-

Ana's aim was true. She fired her bolt at the first Neonate, it died as fast as her rifle had fired. The second fell to Papa, his sniper was as precise as her aim was. The inner room was clear, she heard no more movement.

"Check your corners." Central said as he aimed his odd rifle into the room.

She pulled back her rifle, it only had one bolt to fire at a time. She follows the rest of the group after she reloaded. The inside looked as if a war was raged inside the tiny inner lobby of the cave.

Three holograms of massive beasts hovered in the air on the left and right. But the one in the middle shocked her the most.

It floated in front of a busted cryo-tube. It stood proud, as if ready to fight for its kind. It had a crown, and wore sharp deadly armour, it couldn't be possible…She would never imagine even seeing one of her kinds…

Luc nudged her shoulder, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Yes?"

"You alright? You seem to have been entranced for a moment."

She gazed at the hologram again, she couldn't utter a single word.

"These Vipers…can you sense them? How many are there?" Luc asked.

"I cannot tell, they are not in my mind, they are not _normal._ " Ana couldn't sense these Neonates like she would to Neska or the other Angelko, this was not right…

"You two! Get into position, we aren't done yet, they could be…" Central stopped, small thuds and the sound of something beneath the ground had interrupted him.

Behind her, a small grate in the ground started to shake, she aimed her gun at it. A Neonate slid out from it. She ended its life before it could lift its weapon.

"Ambush!" Central yelled.

Luc had done similar to her, he fired at another Angleko that came out of a separate grate as he ran to cover, more small grates presented more and more Neonate's. They were behind, in front, and right in the room they stood. No were was safe, no matter how much they moved.

Papa's reflexes were beyond anything she knew, he twirled to the left on the side of the main door they entered, fired two shots, killing two Neonate's in less than a second. She only realised after he killed a third that he was using the old fashioned pistol that was found. The Shadowkeeper almost seemed to aim his arm for him.

Thalia had charged after one of the adult Angelko's that appeared up ahead, she fired wildly while she sprinted towards them. Her armour had a few upgrades from the human scientists, she shrugged off the shots that came at her as she struck the odd Angelko's down. Ana thought them odd, they were almost normal young ones, yet she should have been able to sense their thoughts. They wore armour, had guns…but how? This was no ADVENT base…yet they had the equipment to arm themselves.

Central had climbed up the left side of the inner cavern, he shot down from his high ground. He had killed two before a lucky Neonate struck his shoulder with a bolt. He stumbled, and fell back to ground level, his metal armour clanged against the rock.

"Central!" Pheebs had called, running over to him. Her odd 'GREMLIN' drone began to spray odd liquid on his shoulder.

"I'm alright." He thrusts the bolt out of him, not even flinching as he tossed it aside.

The last three odd ones had taken position inside an small room, it was long and wide, but was not very high, it could have been a makeshift outpost, as inside was a number of computers and rotten papers. Nox had unsheathed one of his axes, and had struck two of them down. The third was an adult, and it proved more challenging than the rest.

It held a crooked blade, which looked like a fang but with a handle. And begun thrusting the sharp end towards Nox.

Clearly he wasn't trained in swordplay, he had trouble fighting it. It struck his side once, and almost twisted the axe out of his hands. She slithered over to get a better angle on them both.

She finished it off with one last bolt. It fell will a final hiss in defeat. They all reloaded, and all gathered around the one with the blade.

"This is new." Papa commented.

"Ana, your kind ever use blades?" It was Central who spoke to her. She shook her head in answer. They all stood quiet for a moment, Central looked towards the back of the cave.

"C'mon, let's keep moving." And the group followed him.

-XXX-

The cave was cold now, just a few steps ago it was warm, now it began to freeze up the air Luc breathed in, he could see his own breath when he exhaled. They all found this troubling, but continued on, now even more weary of anything that moved.

Luc took another step forward, but the terrain beneath him seemed to feel different now, a millisecond later..it almost _moved._

He glances down without moving his head. A long snake had laid on the ground before him. No one else noticed, he and Ana was at the back of the group (she was a few paces ahead). It looked like a normal reptile you would see in the wild. But the colours had put him off, yellow, and a bit of orange, they formed odd diamonds on the back of the snake. The same colours of the normal Vipers. It looked up at him.

 _Sssss.._

Luc was acquainted with snakes, he spent time with one that was taller than him, and had _arms_. But yet when he saw this (Which was no more than one meter long) snake, his heart started to pound at his chest.

He kept silent, and jumped back. _Cripes!_ His mind said.

Ana turned on the spot and approached him. "What's wrong?"

Luc was a few paces from the snake, which had now coiled itself up in defence, not angry, but _scared._

She followed his wide eyes to the small snake. She recognised it, and almost laughed.

"You scared of a baby?"

"A what?"

"A youngling…newly born Angelko."

"That's a new born?"

She nods.

"Its massive for a baby!...Where's its arms?"

"They grow a bit later on."

"You two! Back in position!" Central half yelled.

Luc and Ana obeyed, they walked up to where the group now stood. A giant wall that was once made of glass had been shattered in front of them. Beyond the glass was what looked like nothing but ice. Outside had been nothing but the hot sun that shone against forests. But here the world was frozen in place.

"What's with the ice?" Phoebe said.

"Look there!" Luc pointed towards the centre of the ice room. It was little more than a corpse at best. But it couldn't be recognised at this distance.

"Tygan's reading human DNA. Let's check it out. Thalia, Papa, Ana, on the high ground. The rest of you, on me." Central ordered. And they moved out. It seemed Thalia had become a bit more lenient in following orders, as she moved up without hesitation.

They approached the corpse one inch at a time. It was all too quiet now, not a hiss of a tongue nor a slither of a tail could be heard. Central and Luc stood side by side, scanning all round as they approached the objective. The rest had their backs covered, eyeing everything around them.

It was when they were but a few meters away when Central asked the big question.

"Is that…Vahlen?"

No one spoke. The corpse was still at a bad angle to get a better look.

He took another step forward, but Luc stayed still, he saw movement up ahead on a small cliff face. He shook his head slightly, it was gone.

Central walked forwards, Luc was his shadow, another bit of movement, behind some ice spikes. Just up ahead. Was he seeing things?

 _Slaaaar!_ This hiss was a cross between a roar and a cry of anger.

A large snake like creature slithered around the corner. It lay low as it approached them. It made a long and masculine hiss in intimidation once more. It was in front of them when it straightened to its full height.

It had blue stripes that lined its long white body. It wore light blue armour that was similar to what Ana was wearing. A small white cloth draped over from behind its shoulder. Long deadly spikes protruded from the sides of its hood and waist.

It held a Bolt Caster in its right hand with long deadly claws. Everyone became petrified at its sight. As if its eyes turned them into stone. It had its gun lowered, and it bore its pure black eyes into Luc's. It didn't attack, it didn't do anything. It just stood there, staring .

No one knew the truth behind those eyes of pure dismay.

Ana trembled at its sight, its gaze shifted to her. It still did not react, Ana reached out her mind to it, but to no avail.

"What's….What is it..Wha…" But Kurt couldn't finish his words.

Luc thought that maybe, just _maybe,_ it meant no harm. That it was merely defending its home. That it was harmless, that it just wanted them to leave.

But that all changed when it brought its rifle to bear. And fired it, not at Luc. But at one of its own, right at Ana.

It hit its mark with deadly accuracy.


	14. Chapter 14

"…to get reinforcements!..."

The sound of gunshots filled the cavern. The voices called out were in echo form.

"…the axe…Vipers on the left…"

Ana lay on her back, she could only feel the cold ground beneath her. Her vision was blurry, she could barely see the white roof of the cave. A shotgun blast sounded nearby, her hearing went muffled.

"…can't move!"

She suddenly felt a pain in her chest, her head lolled off the edge of the small cliff she was standing on not a second ago, but really she had been out cold for a minute. Her eyes stared aimlessly at the broken glass wall they entered from before, the light was blinding, she looked on without purpose.

"It's too quick!.."

"Keep still…your mine…"

A plasma explosion here, another burst of fire there, but Ana couldn't see the source, she couldn't move, only breath, and even then her breaths were shallow, as if any excess air would probably kill her.

"…Stay still you cowards!"

"Combat protocol!...hit!"

Her allies continued to yell profanities to unknown enemies, she noticed the sunlight that shone through the entrance started to shimmer, shadows of figures, she waited for it to come to her, she couldn't do anything about it, she couldn't warn of the approaching figures.

Seven Angelko had them flanked, they brought up their rifles, aiming down at her allies, ready to wipe them out. She lost her sight before she could see what they would do. Her vision first went white, then black.

-XXX-

The Viper King showed no mercy. It had shot a deadly bolt at Ana, Luc didn't check on her, he couldn't, he fired at it the second it attacked her, no matter if Ana was dead or not, he would kill this thing.

In the blink of an eye, it appeared behind the ice rocks on the left side, Luc rushed to cover, he hid behind blue rocks that came up to his knees. But the King wasn't alone. About a dozen small Vipers had appeared behind the King. Central called in for reinforcements as he shrugged off more bolts that hit his figure.

The King never missed a shot, it fired, dodged, moved, and repeated, three powerful cracks rang out in the large room, three XCOM soldiers tumbled. It roared in approval when it spat poison at Kurt, who struck down three of the small Vipers with his axe. But it wasn't poison like Luc had normally seen, it was _ice._ Kurt yelled out that he couldn't move before freezing mid swing. He stood there like a mannequin in a shopping mall. A Viper was about to shatter the ice surrounding Kurt, but Luc had tossed his only frost bomb at it, it froze just like Kurt did, and was no longer a threat.

Luc then pulled out his amplifier, intent on soulfiring this King before it could do more harm, he clenched the power as if preparing for a punch, and fired it at the King.

 _Impossible._

It only scraped him, he slithered away a split second later, only being grazed by the void energy, this had never been done before, Luc's aim was true, yet this thing kept on going. Not going down after many bullets hit its sides.

"It's too quick! It's heading towards Nox!" Luc cried out.

"Keep still..." Dan whispered on the commlink. "Your mine." And he fired his sniper, he hit the King dead in the chest, it roared in pain, and fired back, Dan's leg was hit with a bolt, he collapsed behind a rock, but was still alive, calling for aid.

Suddenly Luc began to cough. _Not now._ He dropped a few spots of blood onto the ground, his mouth felt much colder, he held his own blood in his mouth. He went to talk, his teeth were painted red, and more blood came out instead of words. He could just see Thalia spraying down her canon towards the small Vipers, yelling something incoherent.

Luc's vision went blurry, Kurt's frozen form could still be seen, he had dropped his two axes, and he was stuck in a fighting pose, the King slithered closer…

"There…" Luc croaked, pointing at Kurt, but no one was looking, so he shook his head, and ran towards him as best he could. The King went uninterrupted as it stood next to Kurt's frozen body. It started to coil its large form around him, Kurt had one hand outstretched, the tail twirled around it, and tightened it into his body.

Kurt's right arm snapped off like a twig, blood spewed out of his now exposed shoulder. Phoebe's GREMLIN flew over and shocked the King, it uncoiled Kurt, and was motionless for a second, dazed by the sheer amount of voltage from the robot.

Luc wasted no time in spraying the rest of his ammo at the Viper. It seemed to give off a weak roar now, it's limitless strength had begun to fade.

Now Luc had its attention, it ran back behind an ice wall, Kurt's axes were on the ground nearby, Luc grabbed one that laid at his feet, careful as to not grab Kurt's now lifeless arm by accident, he had seen Kurt throwing one before, perhaps he could do it too. But he only grabbed the handle for a second before the King's long slippery tongue lashed out at him, the tongue was slightly sharp, a thousand small needles wrapped around his neck and body, leaving small spots of red on his exposed arms, it pulled him in like a fish on a hook.

He now stood toe to toe with the King, it sunk its fangs straight into Luc's face without delay, but he moved out of the way, and the fangs missed his face, but connected with his shoulder instead, Luc could feel the cold venom sink into his veins, it flowed through him, making him feel as if he were made of ice.

It continued to sink its fangs into him, Luc couldn't pry it's face off of him, and it begun to coil him at the same time. He could feel his legs being bound, the King's ice cold body was pressing against him, as if he were a victim of a vampire. His left arm was pushing the King's head, but with reduced strength, he was out of view of his allies, and he was alone. Life seemed to slip away from him, and his legs gave in on himself, he slowly went into a crouched position.

The cold venom and the cold body of the Viper threatened to freeze him in place, but his hand with the axe moved with grace. The blade made an odd whistling song as Luc brought it down on the King's neck. It connected, and its icy blue blood poured out onto Luc, it released its fangs from him, venom still dripping out of its hungry fangs in its mouth.

The both of them stumbled and fell to the ground, but Luc was better off, the blood from the King out-flowed the blood from Luc. Luc managed to get to his knees after a few attempts. The King hissed in defeat, it dropped its massive Bolt Caster, and clutched its neck, its eyes once again stared at him, not with anger, but with respect, like an old mentor that taught its apprentice well.

Luc lifted the axe above his head with both hands, but stopped himself before he brought it down on the helpless King. He examined the pure black eyes, something about them…something _familiar._ The way its face seemed to give off a scent of defeat, of hopelessness. Somehow, in Luc's head, it looked as if to say something to him, but without moving its mouth.

 _Continue the fight…_

He didn't know this, but these eyes were ones of kindness, ones filled with begrudging, and reluctancy to fight.

Luc brought the axe down.

More icy blood spilled onto the ground.

He brought it up above his head again, and swung it down.

The blue blood soaked into the ground.

 _Kill him._

Another swing.

Another chop.

And the cave was silent.

Luc dropped the axe, and fell over, he sat up with his knees bent in front of his face, as if he were a child being punished. He tried to keep his eyes open, but the poison was too much. He fell side by side the King, and just before his eyes closed, the eyes of the King continued to lock its gaze to him. They _winked_ for a second before Luc passed out.

 _The King is dead, long live the King…_

-XXX-

Luc was leaning against a wall, he opens his eyes slowly. He and the rest of his team were also leaning up against the same wall he was on. They were all on his right, and all of them were wounded in some cruel ways. Phoebe was patching up Central, who was right next to him, with help of her GREMLIN. It sprayed the med kit over him, washing Central with all sorts of odd medication.

They all seemed to swirl around as if made from water.

"Pheebs." Luc whispered. "I think you gave me too much."

"Uh..you alright though?" she asked. "A lot of poison in ya' I had to be sure. You feel OK?"

"Yes..." he puffed. "…No…"

Luc felt like he was sitting on custard, almost seeming to topple over at any moment. He looked around with cloudy eyes, many Vipers and Mutons accompanied human engineers as they picked apart the remains of the technology lost in this forsaken cave. Some of them seemed to shimmer when he looked at them after a while, had his eyes been broken?

He saw that Thalia was stood up nearby, accompanied by Xida, who conversed with the Commander in some argument. To his left, he saw a black viper with white stripes. Or was it white with black stripes? He couldn't care less as he looked back to his beaten squad. He noticed they were down a member or two. He counted them, and realised who he missed.

Kurt, the armless Ranger, he was gone.

Now Luc looked back to the black viper, she seemed very pissed off, then again, their eyes always looked that way. But there was an exception..that other Viper, the orangey one.

 _Where's Ana?_

"Ana!" Luc cried out, getting to his feet. " Ana!"

"Sit down _murderer!"_ The Viper that was next to him said as she aimed her rifle at him.

"Wha-where is she? What's going on?" Luc had said as he stumbled to try and find Ana.

"I warned you." Now she coiled around him and pressed the gun to his head. The Commander turned, and drew her pistol on the Viper. The rest of them (alien and human) trained their guns on anyone close to them. This was exempted to Thalia and Xida, who also aimed at other Mutons and Vipers, clearly they were on the side of the humans.

His squad sat squatted down, their guns were gone, they merely looked on to the giant standoff on the room they were in.

"Stop it!" Neska had come into view from behind Xida. "This is no time to fight!"

"This human killed our King! Probably the only one left! Our last lead to the Queen! He should _die!_ "

"The King shot at us first!" Thalia said as she primed her canon in intimidation. "We all saw it!"

"I don't believe you. Our King would never harm you, had you not _provoked_ him!"

"Provoke!? You dare assume such foolish statements..."

They argued over and over again, Luc was right in the line of fire. He would have to do something like one of those old martial art movies. He remembered this one movie he watched, he recited the moves in his head. _How hard could it be? Now that I think about it…Anyone could do it!_

Something told him he could overpower this Viper, so he did this:

He twisted her right arm to her back, the gun barrel slightly moved away from his head, he knocked it out of her hand with one punch, head butted her from behind, and with one final punch, he knocked her out cold. He lifted the rifle up. "Who else wants some?"

-XXX-

He didn't do that. He just looked at the roof, imagining the whole thing, the medicine definitely was too much for him, he gave a small smile as he looked at nothing in particular.

All of them were ready to start firing. One flinch would set off the chain reaction of death.

"Enough!" Ana hissed as she came up from over the broken window, she had been examining the corpse of the King for a few minutes, when she heard Luc call out she came running. She recovered after tugging the bolt out of her chest armour, she silently thanked the Queen for her armour, it would need repairs though, the bolt tore through the plated armour like butter.

"The King is dead. And I wish he died sooner."

She got many confused looks from the many Angelko in the base. She continued on.

"This was not our King, it was a creation, merely a feral clone that serves us no purpose."

"Do you not see the Neonates that scatter this place?" one of the Angleko asked her in High Speech. "It reproduced, it helped give birth to our kind! We could have saved our race if…"

"It tried to kill me without hesitation. It shot me first, it wanted me dead. The Queen deemed me important, this _King_ didn't, he was no King, he was _nothing_."

"Your to careless…"

"Their minds were closed to me, how do you explain that?"

Now all was silent, if he was a real King, he would have at least made his mind open to them, but if none of them, not even the Neonates, even tried to talk to her, then something was wrong with them.

The Angleko lowered their guns, as did the Muton's and human's, this is because Ana had shared her memories to them through there connection. There were no lies when it came to Angleko, memories don't lie, at least hers don't.

"Let's get out of here. Our lead in Europe won't last forever." the Commander said.

"How are we gonna do this Commander?" Central asked. "There might still be some salvage around here, maybe Vahlen left something behind."

-XXX-

They searched high and low across Vahlen's base. No trace of her, no sign of her ever being there apart from several recordings of her discussing the Viper King and two other 'Rulers'. Hopefully with a bit of luck they would never encounter the other two, as 'Subject Gamma' was tough enough.

In order to keep up with the resistance, the Commander, Central and one of the dropships took off to Europe. Leaving the six of them, along with a bunch of engineers, guards and aliens to search the cave for anything useful.

At the very far back in the ice cave, a corridor seemed to be shut off with a wall of ice. The engineers said it would take some time to clear the way and find out if anything was down there. Apart from that, there was one other thing worth of interest.

A small suit made completely of metal, a robots body. The arm was detached and given to Kurt as a suitable replacement. It wasn't that simple though, over the whole time the Avenger was away he had to calibrate and get used to it. Which proved slightly difficult, but with Shen's go ahead, he would be ready to fight.

But on the same day the Avenger had left the cave, Luc had managed to move himself into one of the small outposts. He was off duty due to the excessive medication. He found one reasonably well conditioned cot, and threw himself into it, clearly Phoebe needed more practice, but she was a good medic, a lot of painkillers definitely made him more happy. Or perhaps it was the poison doing this to him. _Whatever…I feel fine anyway._

 _Don't lie to yourself Luc._

His pupils dilated as he stared at the rotten roof above him. The feeling of the meds and poison in his veins combined into something he could not begin to describe. He felt light like a feather, yet as heavy as a brick. The blankets on the cot seemed to shimmer underneath him as if he sat in a pit of snakes. He crossed his arms on his stomach, it looked as if he was cloud gazing, but without the clouds.

Suddenly he stood upright, he _was_ sitting in a pit of snakes, the same yellow and orange coloured ones from before. The world rotated around him while Luc remained upright. Luc imagined the world revolving around him while he stood still, would he be spinning around if someone saw him? Or the other way around? He smiled and laughed, yet nothing was amusing, that thought wasn't funny, yet Luc thought otherwise. Looking to the sky, he saw it changed colours every few seconds, first to red, then blue, then yellow and finally back to red. It changed in that order over and over again like a slideshow.

Suddenly he was falling, he was high above what looked like a beach, he descended while making a high pitch scream, like a cat tied to a cruise missile. He was about to meet his end when the sand felt like a pillow. He looked around without sitting up, he lay in the comfy sand while looking around. To his left was a small food stall, he squinted to see the name. Was it called 'Shacks'? the writing was quite small, but whatever. He looked to the right, could the beach be any more beautiful than this? The small calm waves ran across the sand, small blue crabs no bigger than tennis balls were knocked over in there failed attempts to brace against the waves. This made Luc laugh again.

"What's so funny?" A voice above his had asked. He shifted his head and saw Ana, she was wearing a long cloth that wrapped its way up from her tail to her shoulders, almost like those old Roman type fashioned clothes, it was bright purple all over and seemed very tight against her soft, silky, shiny scales. The robe outlined her figure perfectly, like one of those runway models on a catwalk. She was _magnificent._ He preferred her when she wasn't in her usual armour.

"Well?" She smiles a little.

"Ha! I don't know!" Luc said happily.

-XXX-

Ana could barely see the lines of purple in his eyes. He was laughing so hard and loud she had to come in and investigate, she bent over his bed to look at him, she asked him what was so funny, he just laughed on, and said something she couldn't understand. He was happy, she gave him that much.

"It's the meds I think." Papa said as he passed by. "Must be a lot."

So Ana took a seat next to his cot. He continued to dreamily stare at the roof, she held his right hand that dangled off the cot, she wondered what he was thinking about. So she tried to read his thoughts, he had never taken off the medallion, probably never will either. She could make out a beach, and lots of laughter, but that was all she could muster. She waited patiently for him to get better.

She dosed off until the next morning, he clutched his head while he slept, she smiled as she got up.

"Rest well." she said as she got up and left.

Luc opened his eyes when she left, and smiled.

-XXX-

The weeks that passed had been rather uneventful in Vahlen's cave. But on another continent far to the east the Avenger had attacked a rather large ADVENT forge. Xida and Captain 'Cat' lead two small teams in to destroy the site, however when they got there they discovered an odd suit sitting in a small stasis pod. It was white and bulky, similar to what the Commander wore when he was captured in New Isa. They took it with them when they left the forge.

On their trip back to Vahlen's cave, they intercepted a resistance transmission, apparently they begun a full out assault on an Avatar facility. The Commander had the Avatar project on a strictly need-to-know basis, only Central, Shen and Tygan knew about it. She didn't know if a project about the whole extinction of humanity should be told around, perhaps to the higher ranking soldiers, but not now. They sent in a strictly human only squad to help the rebels, just to be safe.

She had questioned Xida about the project when he walked around the hanger bay.

"Ever heard of the 'Avatar' project?" she asked him.

"Avatar…It seems so familiar. But I can't say that I do, ma'am."

"Thank you." She turns and leaves, he may have been lying, but she wasn't going to accuse him, the alliance was still young.

She made her way back to her quarters, it was time she contacted the Spokesman, she hadn't told him about her new allies yet, she hasn't really contacted him, he normally leaves recorded messages for _her_ , she hit the button to call him on her personal terminal.

The shadowed figure of the bald man soon appeared on the screen. Bright lights shone behind him, outlining his slightly beefy figure, his hands connected in anticipation.

"Commander, I have been notified of your recent progress towards slowing down the Avatar project. But I have heard witnesses claim you have…'external' help to your cause." The Spokesman's slow voice was filled with authority, each word was said with much meaning behind it.

"You heard correct." she replied. "Three dropships filled with Viper's and Muton's. They needed help, and I gave them a hand."

"Why help our enemy? We have no reason for their aid…"

"Forgive me, but my situation with my operatives is running slim, I had to resort to this kind of recruiting. Besides, one of…My _only_ Psionic Operative had past experience with one, he said they could be trusted, and I believe him, they fight well. And our crew are starting to mingle with their own, I believe they are of great use to us."

The Spokesman was silent for a minute, contemplating on her words.

"I will trust your judgement Commander, but do not forget who our enemy is. Even defectors can still change their minds. Tread carefully, I can only hope that if we pull through this…that we can maintain this alliance afterwards, but that will be _your_ responsibility, not to mention your Psionic Operative's as well."

"Me too, Commander out."

-XXX-

They had all re-grouped at Vahlen's cave, and were en route to New Chile, apparently a data tap needed to be destroyed in one of the city centres there. The Commander had chosen the six who fought the Viper King to be a part of this mission. She wanted to know if this could become a truly unique XCOM squad. The team was balanced, and they had good cohesion with one another.

They all received more training in their fields of expertise. The Commander had Phoebe and Kurt ranked at Captain and Lieutenant respectfully, and Luc trained up the ability to be of the rank of Mystic. She could estimate Ana and Thalia to be around the same ranks as well. They had recovered all their wounds on their quick break, now it was time to test them once more.

Whilst they had deployed, Tygan had called the Commander down to the research labs. He was examining an all too familiar suit of armour when she approached him.

"Ah, Commander, our engineers have found a truly remarkable piece of equipment from the cave. I believe you called it 'Psi armour' back during the initial invasion?"

A light purple suit of old medium armour was in rather superb condition. It looked like old titan armour, but was slightly thinner.

"I guess Vahlen must have snagged a few before leaving the old base." she commented.

"That is not all." Tygan had escorted her over to a grand table, it had more pieces of armour and weapons that the Viper's and Muton's used. "I believe I can produce the needs to recreate and improve the designs to our allies weapons and armour exponentially, as well as bring our gear up to our highest possible standards, with your go ahead, I can start right away."

"Do it. We can use all the help we can get."

-XXX-

The relay was in the midst of a ruined part of the city outskirts, almost everything was destroyed, as if a tornado had passed through here not ten minutes ago. This didn't bother the ADVENT presence in the area. A place like this was a perfect area to hide a relay. Many of the houses had been pulled off the ground, and trees lay strewn everywhere they went, they criss-crossed each other, marking small symbols like Chinese ideograms on the barren streets.

They were at the building with the hidden relay, none of them had been hit by bullets so far.

"I'm taking another shot at it!" Kurt yelled as he fired a final blast at the relay, it whirled around and exploded after the final shot from Kurt's shard gun.

As soon as it made a small _pop_ and fell over. Luc had already tugged at his belt, lit a blue flare, and threw it near a fountain nearby.

"Requesting EVAC, mission completed." Luc stated.

"EVAC confirmed, Skyranger is inbound." Firebrand replied.

They had met nothing that they couldn't handle. Luc's mind was so fixated on his own very essence, a trooper had thrown a grenade right at him a minute ago, and he didn't even flinch. He could make a small shield around himself to stop explosions, but this didn't stop bullets or beams however. But never the less, he could feel his power growing, his mind was only the slightest bit closed off to the world. A small sliver of his old self remained, it wouldn't be long until it was gone, replaced by the new 'him'.

They all crouched in a circle with their backs to each other. All was quiet, Luc took the opportunity to gaze at the great buildings of the city centre just a mile or two away. A feeling of nostalgia washed over him, he looked down at his chest to examine himself. They all wore (except Ana and Thalia) predator armour, and Luc had his custom MAG rifle in his hands, he had come a long way from some city-boy to a fighter for XCOM. His thoughts were interrupted when Kurt nudged his shoulder with his robotic arm.

"Hey, check it out."

Luc watched what he was looking at, a small screen was split in half down the middle, on the left side was a photo of Kurt, and the right side was none other than Luc himself, the photo's looked recent, he wondered how these pictures got out.

"What's it say below my name?" Kurt asked. Below both of the photo's was a bunch of writing about basic info about them and the rewards for information.

"Yours says…not a threat."

"Oh…what?" Kurt sounded so disappointed, Luc nudged him back. "Just kidding, apparently you're the most annoying human they know of!" This wasn't the whole truth, but fairly close to what they actually said.

Kurt nods in self gratitude. "Nice." But then he had an interesting idea. "Why don't we see Ana or Thalia on these screens? We see humans, but they must know of you guys joining us."

"Perhaps they don't want everyone to know that we can betray them." Thalia grumbled.

"But isn't your…"

Loud stomps interrupted them, the all too familiar sound sent them all into silence.

"Oh, not again."

The giant dark robot came into view a second later, it stood on two legs, and had a canon atop the compartment between the legs.

"They've definitely improved the Sectopod's designs!" Dan said as he ran into cover, as they all did.

Thalia had begun spraying many beams at the Sectopod, shredding its armour in the process, even cutting a few holes clean through the compartment.

It made some 'speech' through robotic muffles, and raised itself to double its original height, this was how it looked back in New Isa, clearly this form is more deadlier, as it fired three consecutive shots at Luc.

But all three shots hit the wall he hid behind harmlessly. _Maybe this design was faulty_.

Those shots were all it managed to fire, the concentrated fire of all six of them managed to destroy the great machine in less than ten seconds. The impact of Luc's bullets did their work, however some of them made high pitched sounds like mosquitoes as they ricocheted off its armoured hull. It fell over with a loud bang, the red light of its visor dimmed to blackness.

"Huh." said Dan. "Thought they usually.."

 _Pow!_ The Sectopod exploded into a thousand pieces.

"This is Firebrand, it's time to go." The Skyranger was overhead a moment later, they took their respective ropes, and hoisted themselves into the gunship. They flew off when the door closed.

-XXX-

"Fantastic job out there!" The Commanders drone had been waiting for their arrival on the landing pad. "I think I've got an official new team for XCOM right in front of me!"

"What do you mean?" Ana asked.

"You six, I believe you can be our first ever XCOM squad…that isn't entirely human. What do you all say?"

Ana had been part of a team back on the blood isles, but she was never asked if she wanted to be a part of it, yet here is the Commander, enemy of the planet, asking _her_ and the others behind her if they wanted to be an official team. She loved the idea, and didn't hesitate the moment she asked her.

"Yes!" She said quickly. She looked back, she was the first to say anything. She looked down in embarrassment. "I mean…yeah." She tries to look as casual as possible.

The drone flew next to her, and looked to the others, she had thought they would agree just as fast, clearly she was eager. "Nice to see you jumping the gun, Ana, what about the rest of you?"

"This will be fun. I'm in." Luc said as he walked over.

"Me too." Kurt gave a jerk of his robotic thumb to himself.

"You need us." Phoebe patted her black and red GREMLIN as she said this.

"I wouldn't refuse this for a second." Dan agreed. This just left Thalia, who was silent, looking down at the ground for some reason.

"Thalia?" the Commander asked. "Thalia, you OK?"

Ana knew what this kind of behaviour meant, and whispered to the Commander.

"She does this with respect, Commander, don't take offense."

"Thalia? Do you want to be a part of this?" the drone asked again.

"Yes." Thalia could barley be heard, what she did next was really odd for the witnessing humans. She _bowed_ to the Commander. To the _drone._

"So much for…" Luc stopped Kurt's comment with a light nudge with his elbow.

"That does it then. Put your weapons and armour away, you'll get your own squad loadout when were done making them. In the meantime, you need to think of a name, I'll leave it you all. Your dismissed for now." And the drone flew off out of the hanger, leaving the group in silence.

"I don't know about you lot." Kurt said. "But I could use the rest."

-XXX-

" _Where did you go?"_

Our Elder had found all he could about the betrayers, he had the Angelko Queen moved away so she couldn't be found by the resistance, and he himself had moved down to New Isa in order to find anyone _she_ may have talked to.

He watched the many cameras positioned about the city. The attack on the now dead General, the statues destruction, and the clinic assault.

"My Elder, _she_ was last seen escorting a human to the edge of town." The Speaker said from behind him, but he was too focused on the video recordings.

The screen switched, she had a human handcuffed, and moved him out to the outskirts. They spoke for a while, and the human leant in towards her, but backed away before he did anything else. He walked into the desert, leaving her behind.

" _Who is that man?"_

"Hmm..Luc, Luc Weldon. Worked at 'L's' for a month…checked in at the clinic not long before the clinic's destruction…his test results were positive for _cancer_. He didn't do anything about it..don't have a chip…no sign of him since. He's probably dead.

" _No….he would have gone out there with a destination in mind. I shall find him myself."_

"You think he's still out there?"

" _Perhaps not, but still, this 'Luc' can become our bargaining chip….Tear his house down, find out everything you know about him. His friends, his family, everything."_


	15. Chapter 15

Wondering the halls of the Avenger began to change in more ways than one after the six of them were designated as a squad. After that night some people began to wear mindshields on their necks, silencing their thoughts to Luc, perhaps it was just there way of privacy to Luc's growing power, but it wasn't just that.

He tried asking some of the soldiers he knew only by codename what they were doing wearing them, but the answers were vague. "I just like it." Or "No reason." Were the only answers he got. Even his squad started to wear them as well, he had asked Kurt the same question when they were alone in the common room.

"What's with the mindshields? I didn't know we had so many." Luc would say.

"It's just the new thing." Kurt had always replied.

The others wouldn't even so much as look at him, maybe just a simple 'Hello' would have sufficed, but only rarely did he get even that. This went on for some time, and with every day that passed, he would go more and more familiar to his old self, reserved and private, this is how he felt.

He then looked around the engineering bay some time later, a large cargo hold, filled with odds and ends, not to mention the many engineers, tinkering endlessly on bits of alien metals.

Shen was running around like a headless chicken, searching every table and crate she could find, he approached her and didn't bother wandering what she was looking for.

"Shen, why is…"

"Have you seen my tools?" she cut him off.

"No. Why is everyone wearing mindshields?"

"Got a big order a while ago, don't know why." She ran off in her constant search for her things, Luc sighed in defeat, and left the bay.

 _Clearly they are hiding something from me_ Luc thought. Surely it was nothing, and that he was just overreacting. But as more and more people began to wear them almost all the time, and not getting any answers whatsoever, he became paranoid, worried about anything and everything. His psionic gift filled his world, making him feel light on his feet, and he hated the idea of having silence fill his mind. He couldn't bear the thought of returning to his old secluded self.

 _I can't go back, they are trying to isolate me, and you know it._

Luc thought he could ask Ana to shed some light on things, so after his lunch, he set off to find her. He hadn't been able to get close to the alien tents whenever they landed, but at least the aliens were aloud onto the Avenger, a small step towards unity, or maybe just to get more helping hands on deck.

He searched the ship with his eyes closed, and his mind open. She couldn't be found, almost no one could, not Dan, not Phoebe, not even Thalia. He went to the hanger, nothing but a few Muton's showing a Corporal how to use a blade. He asked them where Ana or Thalia were, but they shrugged in denial. He thanked them and left.

The food area, nothing.

The bridge, not there.

He even went down to the firing range, not a soul.

He checked the research labs, Tygan was there, holding some weird piece of armour in his hands, he noticed him walk in.

"Luc, what can I do for you?" Tygan said without looking at him.

"You seen Ana? Or any of my team?"

"Oh, I wouldn't know anything about that, but perhaps you should check the Psi Lab. I saw your Ana in there a while ago."

"Alright, thanks…Wait, _my_ Ana? What are you talking about?"

"Don't think I don't see the way you look at her, besides, the Commander told me."

"She did?" Luc sighed. "I'm going."

"See ya." Tygan smiled, receiving a glare from Luc as he left.

He stood outside the door to the Psi Lab, he wondered why she would be in here, the void had almost killed him last time they were there, he became worried. So he searched for any minds inside, still nothing came up. _Perhaps the void thing had killed her…Oh god._

His arm became a blur as he thrusts his hand to the door handle, turns, and swing the door open. As soon as he looked in his eyes were coated in a bright white light.

" _Surprise!"_

His hearing went muffled, all that could be heard was a low skittering sound. He brought up his arm to his eyes in an attempt to shield them, the skittering soon became the sounds of multiple _claps._

" _..to you!"_

The flash faded, and he lowered his arm, there in front of him stood his five squad mates, backed up by the drone of the Commander, Neska, and a bunch of other soldiers and aliens. They chanted the birthday song (which annoyed him, even when he didn't hear it all) and clapped once more. Of course, it was his birthday, he almost forgot.

"This is for you, Psi-Guy." The drone held out a large tray. "Couldn't get any cakes, hope these will do." The tray had about two dozen small cupcakes, the one in the centre was a dark brown, with the number '27' in the middle, it was about the size of a small book, unusually large compared to the others. It was the only one with one candle on it.

"Chocolate, chef said you'd like them, first ever cakes baked by an alien, or so I think." The drone moved itself slightly to its left, gesturing behind to Ana, who smiled shyly.

"Thought you liked chocolate." Is all she said.

He did.

"C'mon! Make a wish! I'm starving!" Thalia had called out, she must be really getting into this 'celebration of birth' thing after all.

He took the cake into his hands, made his wish, and blew out the candle. More clapping bounced off the walls.

"Thought of a name yet, birthday boy?" Kurt clapped him on the soldier.

"Nope, you?"

"Nah, I'm sure we can think of one with some…help." Kurt held up two bottles, which had clear liquid swirling around inside, Luc knew one thing, _it wasn't water._

"Aren't we at war, Commander?" Luc said as he examined the bottle.

"Lighten up, it's good to let loose once in a while, besides, morale will saw sky high if this goes well." The drone nodded, and passed around the tray of cakes to the rest of the attendees, aliens included.

"Let me get some cups, stay here!" Kurt nudged his way into the back of the lab, it seemed they removed the second cell due to the uselessness of it, the lab was surprisingly more roomier as he saw how many people could fit inside.

Ana slithered up next to him, she held a cupcake as well.

"How'd you know I like chocolate?" Luc asked.

"I know a lot of things."

"Like how to make cupcakes?"

"There was a book the Commander lent me. It's easy."

Luc took a large bite out of his 'birthday cake', the flavour was rich, his taste buds were in heaven, the icing was especially exquisite.

"And delicious." Luc said with a mouthful, he had a small amount of icing on his upper lip, which made Ana giggle. He wiped it off with the back of his hand quickly.

Kurt returned with a stack of plastic cups. "This way! The whole crew's here!"

Luc and Ana followed him, he could see humans talking to Muton's, Vipers to Muton's, and humans to Viper's. Some held drinks, some folded their arms, some simply didn't talk, it reminded Luc of his first party, he was the shy guy, sitting in the corner of the room with his arms crossed, sipping on water until it was time to leave (which was always way to early). Now he was surrounded by soldiers and warriors, all here for him, and some of them weren't even human!

His new squad all sat in several chairs in a small semi-circle. Three were available next to each other, Luc took the one in the middle. Ana and Dan on his left, Kurt, Phoebe and Thalia on the right.

"Thalia.." Luc asked the peculiar looking Muton. "Is that a straw?"

"How else am I supposed to drink?" Thalia replied. She held a pink straw to her respirator, one end of the straw was in a clear cup, the other was inside her tube, filled with blended brown liquid, she made odd slurping sounds. _How weird…_

Meanwhile Kurt had been pouring alcohol into several cups, and pushed one each into everyone's hands, ending with Luc. Kurt was very eager to start this off, this much was certain.

"Give us a toast Luc." he said as he sat back down

Luc raised his glass, as did everyone else (Exception to Thalia). "To team…us. And to XCOM, and its wonderful new allies." And he drank the whole cup in one full swing. As did everyone else. But Ana had started to cough after a small sip.

"Vile thing!" she hissed. "Taste like crap!"

"Don't worry Ana, it gets better the more you have it." Luc said as he poured himself another. Ana hesitantly drank some more, her face squinting as she did so.

"Hey, Thalia, why do you hate men?" Kurt asked out of the blue.

"She hates men?" Luc said out loud. "Is it cause' she met you, man?"

"Yeah, Xida told me….wait, no!"

"You give us a bad image Kurt." Luc sipped some more of his drink, it tasted horrible, but good at the same time, it had a lemony pinch, with a hint of bitterness.

Kurt extends his middle finger at him, Luc laughed it off. "Anyway, so why do you, Thalia?" Kurt continued.

"Blame Xida, he is the one."

"How so?" Phoebe asked. "He seems really nice." Everyone looked at her. "…what?"

"I'll tell you." Thalia's speech sounded different as she gave her story, as if she was rehearsing for the most dramatic event in history. She extended her arms and threw her voice with so much effort, that Shakespeare would be proud.

-XXX-

It was two years ago. Thalia had been the most wanted dame in the whole damn Legion. She was one of the few females to be in this particular ADVENT group. She was the biggest, baddest, most honourable Muton that any male ever laid eyes on. Strong and loyal only to herself, she struck down evil with her own bare hands. Men bowed down to her, attempting to ease her rampage across earth, but she kept on going, never giving up the fight as she tore worlds apart in her beautiful fury…

-XXX-

"Thalia, just...just skip that part OK?"

"Oh, right..anyway…One day a fair Muton approached me."

"Xida?" Luc interrupted again.

"Yes, he _was_ a fair looking male, that was when he…"

-XXX-

She stared out of her barracks, waiting for her newly met mate for a romantic stroll around the perimeter, she made sure to sway her graceful form as they walked…

-XXX-

Kurt spat out some of the drink he had in his mouth, they all tried to hold in a laugh, but couldn't help but snicker.

"You humans better not interrupt me again, or ill tear your legs off, birthday or not!"

"Our highest condolences, Thalia, please continue." Luc made a mocking bow to her, but she didn't notice this as she continued onwards.

-XXX-

"Oh Thalia." Xida said as they held each other's hands. "I cannot be with you. For I do not deserve you."

"No, I want this, Xida. I want you." she said melodramatically.

"I have not, what you want." He looks away from her. "You deserve someone else."

"Oh Xida, don't say such things!"

(They all stifled there laughter's)

"You do not understand. I am not Xida, I'm…I'm…"

"I'm his _brother!"_

Later that day, she found the real Xida in his quarters, talking to the Angelko Queen. She tossed his brothers respirator at his feet.

"Another one of your pranks, and you will join him." She stormed out without looking back.

-XXX-

This shut them all up.

"You..you _killed_ him?" Phoebe said shocked.

Thalia nods.

"Isn't that, a bit extreme?" Luc asked, pinching two fingers as he did so.

"I will not tolerate stupid male jokes and jests. Xida thought it hilarious to see if I could tell the difference. But…after that, I hung around the few females more often, there better than you males and your stupid attitudes anyway."

"Sing it, sister!" Phoebe jeered.

"You can't look at us all like that, due to one man's joke." Dan piped in, he had been sitting back as if he was in the clouds the whole time.

"Yes. I can." Thalia said blandly as she drank a whole cup of alcohol in a matter of seconds.

-XXX-

"I left way before HQ was lost, I wasn't even stationed there for more than a week, shipped out to Africa when it was destroyed, lucky for me."

"So you know no one by that name then?" Luc asked.

"No. You ask the Commander?"

"She only remembered a few names, none of them were _his_ though."

"I'm sorry I couldn't help with your dad."

"It's OK, enjoy the party, Dan." Luc smiled, and let his head droop. No one knew who his father was, not a single one. But how? Not even Central knew who Luc was talking about.

"Hey..." Ana rested her hand on his shoulder, bending her neck at an odd angle so she could see his eyes. "I'm sure he's proud of you, you've come a long way, now's not the time to dwell on the _plast._ "

Luc looked up. "The what?"

" _Past."_ She hiccupped. "I meant _past._ " She looked to the cup in her hand. "It really does taste better, doesn't it?" She said as she took another gulp. Luc shook his head in amusement, she was probably the most 'gone' out of all of them, that was until he spotted Thalia once more.

She had her head resting on one hand, and one leg on her other knee. She was staring at the Commanders drone in an odd way. Luc searched her thoughts.

 _Oh snap!_ He stood up, and walked over to where she sat, her glassy eyes looked dreamily at the floating drone across the room.

"Go on Thalia. Go up there." Luc said.

"What? W-What are you talking about?" she growled.

"Don't get all defensive, I see the way your checking out _her."_ He then whispered. " _Go on._ "

She looked hesitant, but about ready to jump out of her chair, but an invisible rope held her in place. The others had gathered around, and he told them what she was thinking. They agreed (Kurt laughed) that she should go up to her (or it).

"No..no I..what do I even…"

"Relax." Luc said in his best dream like voice. "Ask her about herself, offer her a drink, all that stuff."

"It's a robot, Luc." she said as if he was a moron.

"But not on the _inside_. Right guys?"

They nodded their heads.

So she sat up slowly, and almost tip toed her way over to the drone, which idled in the air. Thalia was just a few steps away before she stopped and looked back at them, they all gave thumbs up or smiled at her encouragingly. She proceeded forward after a moment.

"I wanna hear what she's saying." Phoebe said. "Let's get closer."

"No need. I'll recite it to you." Luc closed his eyes, and found Thalia's mind, he could see through her eyes as if he was standing there watching a movie. He gave a short amused laugh. He would've made a great spy, perhaps Indira was right all along.

Thalia inched her way forward behind the GREMLIN, its back was to her, Thalia coughed once, and spoke.

"C-Commander?" Thalia said nervously.

It spun around, it raised its eyebrows (or sensor flaps) and tilted to the side.

"Thalia. Enjoying yourself?"

Thalia pushed her pinks hands together, looking all the more jittery.

"Yes, how are...how are you?"

"Quite well, thank you."

Now Thalia was lost for words, Luc took pity on the rather enjoyable show. He decided to give her a hand, and sent a suggestion through the link he made between them. He suggested that she compliment her human form. He recalled the black hair, the tall lean but firm body. Luc admitted, she was a good looking woman, when the Commander first showed her true self she got many looks from the XCOM personnel…

But his thoughts turned into Thalia's words. As if he was tugging the strings of a puppets mouth. Now he couldn't blame them all for wearing mindshields.

"Your human form is quite high in the human appearance spectrum. You get many looks from other humans, which is not surprising." Thalia said, losing all of her nervousness for a moment, acting as casual as could be. "The strong body I first saw you put many other human females to shame." But after a second of silence, she raised one hand to her mouth, and her eyes widened in shock.

"Really? Thank you." The Commander said, in a confused tone, but didn't act surprised, at least on the _outside_.

"I..I didn't mean that. But I did, and, well…I..."

Thalia had angrily looked back to the group. Who all huddled next to Luc to hear him speak. The moment she locked eyes with them, they immediately dispersed. Some of them whistled, some of them looked away, while Luc couldn't help but give off a laugh with Kurt.

"I bet you get a lot of looks as well, Thalia. Your very cute…Central! Put that bottle down!" The drone flew off to the doorway, Central had just been about to take a sip, but the Commander intervened and grabbed the bottle. Clearly Central had a problem for the drone to react so quickly.

If Muton's could blush, Thalia sure was. She stood there staring at the wall for a minute, then walked back to her seat, and sat down without a word.

"Luuuuc." Ana whispered. He leaned his head inwards. "Whaaaat?" he copied her tone.

"You're such a jerk!"

He sighed. "Yep, I know."

Phoebe waved one hand in front of Thalia's eyes, she didn't react.

"Thalia? Hellooo?"

Still no reaction.

-XXX-

The party was in its prime. Music began to sing throughout the lab, the beat was unusually soothing, yet caused adrenaline to run through all their veins, the lyrics kept mentioning something about red wine, and the word ' _woah',_ was used often.

The six of them soon left their seats to talk to others, (except Thalia, who hadn't moved a muscle) it was good to see the mingling of alien and human, morale was no doubt going to be high, as no fights or arguments could be heard. They all talk about…anything. And it worked, much to everyone's surprise. Neska and Xida (who arrived late) sat at a two seated table, and competed against each other in a drinking game. With many others cheering them on as they downed one cup after another.

Luc had noticed movement in his little cell, he went and checked it out. He nodded to some smiling (he _thought_ they were smiling) Muton's near the door as he passed into it. He saw two humans very close to his bed, one male, one female. They had been in a deep kiss when he interrupted.

"Oh, no no no no. Out. Not here." He shooed them out to the door, like an overprotective cleaner. Once they were out, he took another gulp of the bottle in his hand. He really started to fell a _buzz_ now.

Ana stood in the doorway, he had not heard her approach, his ears nor his mind were working properly. Or perhaps she was just to sneaky.

"What were they doing?" Ana said slowly, she held a can in one hand, and motioned it behind her, and spilt a few drops onto the floor. "Whoops…"

"They were _smooching._ Trying to do ' _it'_ …In my room no less!" Luc replied, not caring about Ana spilling the drink on the ground. He sat on his bed.

She slithered up to him with a confused look on her face. "What's a smooching?"

"Well." Luc slapped his hands on his lap, he said this rather excitingly, losing his droopy attitude like the snap of fingers. "Two humans, who like each other very, very much, decide to pursue the relationship to a higher level of….uh... _intimacy._ " When Luc said the last word, he lowered his voice to a whisper, as if it was a well kept secret.

Ana raised one eye, if she had eye brows, her look would be priceless, her mouth was slightly open in the middle, giving her the look of a surprised fish.

"Then, they bring themselves closer together." He positioned his hands into impromptu mouth shapes, and slowly brought them together. "And then, they do this." And when the hands contacted, he meshed them together in odd ways. _Maybe not exact, but close enough._ Luc Thought.

A devilish thought was in Ana's mind, she asked him something rather personal.

"You ever pursue a human into a higher level of intimacy, Luc? Ever _smooched_ anyone?"

Normally Luc would have blushed at such a question, but now he had no reason to. "Nuh-uh, no lady has ever gone _that_ far with me before. Not a single girl interests me that much, at least, no _human_ has."

She might have been on the tip of passing out from the human drinks, but she caught his compliment the moment it left his mouth.

"Thank you." she hissed, in a slightly more seductive tone than her usual voice. " _You_ interest _me_ as well, Luuuuuc." She dragged out his name in a silly manner.

"Do Angelko's ever _smooch_?" he asked, not actually hearing her say anything.

She raises her tail as she sat down next to him, and pointed at it with her 'pinkie' finger. "We use this mostly, if you had one I'd show you." She eyed his feet. "Legs don't have the…flexibility."

She demonstrated this by coiling her tail around itself on the floor, it piled up like ice cream.

"Yeah, but…this room.." he lowers his head. "It's made of _glass._ No privacy. Alas, we are being watched right now. Maybe I can tint the windows, or I could…" He continued to trail off the subject, unbeknownst to Ana's sneaky comments back at him, but she couldn't blame him, the human drink clouded her mind as well. How many had she had so far? About eight cans and bottles? She couldn't help herself to take another glug, it tasted so damn _good._

"What's that?" Luc asked in a high pitched and surprised voice. "Fifty?"

"Eight."

"Eight standards?"

She nods without knowing what he meant.

"Luc!" Kurt stumbled and hit his head on the rooms doorway, but he didn't even flinch, just blinked rapidly. "Karaoke! You singing?"

He gave a genuine round of laughter, as did Ana. Luc singing? She didn't think so.

"Yeah nah." Luc said quickly, still smiling.

"Well, I'm gonna! So you just…just come cheer me on." Kurt clutched his stomach in slight pain.

"Hey man, you don't look so good." Ana said in an incredibly casual and slow tone, almost mimicking a surfer's speech. But Kurt walked out, and they both tried to follow, Luc groaned when he stood up, acting just like Kurt had done.

Ana reached and held on to his right shoulder, the arm dangled loosely over it. "Luc."

"Yeah?"

"I may, _may,_ need some helping getting up. Wait, no, _help getting up_."

"So do I."

They stared at each other blankly for a few seconds, then busted out laughing, they helped each other out of Luc's cell. Shen had ran inside and took the microphone from Kurt, who was standing just outside with now empty hands. He gave a shocked look at the rudeness.

"Has anyone seen my tools?!" she called out to everyone with the microphone.

"Tygan's in the lab, now gimme!" Kurt took the microphone back, and began his first of many songs.

-XXX-

"…down with the blues!" Kurt finished his song, then threw his arms up in victory.

No one clapped, that was until Luc, who was sitting at the far back table with the five of his squad mates, started clapping rapidly. Luc thought others would join in, but no, he was the only one.

"Thank you!" Kurt slurred as he walked over to the table they sat at, and slumped into a chair.

"How's it feel? The only singer on the whole ship?" Dan asked, to which Kurt simply mumbled another 'thank you' again.

"Anywho, what were we talking bout'?" Phoebe continued.

"Team name." Luc said. "Please don't sing again Kurt, this is _extremely_ important, no more interruptions."

"Sheesh. Don't appreciate anything…"

So they went on to think of team names for some time. Thalia still sat motionless, as if she wasn't really in the room with them. After some time of thinking, they decided they were getting nowhere.

"Team…Kurt."

"No."

"Team…snake?"

"No."

"Team Roswell?"

"What's that?"

"I…I don't know."

"Team stop being such an ass.."

"Shut it Kurt, I got loads of cool names!"

"Yeah Luc? Go ahead then!"

"Team...Alpha Beta, charlie...delta..."

-XXX-

The party had died down like an extinguished fire. What was once full of laughter and chatter, now only a few quiet people remained.

"We...don't need no…edumacations." Kurt stood lazily in front of the microphone again. The Commanders drone had finished cleaning up the mess, making the Psi Lab almost spotless, It flew up to Kurt.

"That's enough, let's get you some rest." It takes the microphone into one small pincer, and helped Kurt to the hallway.

It returned a few minutes later, only two others still remained, Luc and Ana. Ana was piled into a chair, looking like she was asleep, and Luc was next to his cell, cleaning the glass with a cloth. The Commander flew up to his side.

"Looks fine, get some rest."

"What about Ana?" he slurred back.

"Leave her, she looks too tired to move, I trust you'll…keep an eye on her." The Commanders tone had a hint of slyness to it.

"Shush."

"Excuse me?"

Luc sighs. "Shush…Commander."

"Thank you. Good night." And it left, leaving him standing there alone, but the great orange orbs of Ana's eyes stared at his back, he somehow knew she was aware of him, he quickly turns to her, she was halfway off the chair, attempting to sneak up on him, she had fallen off the chair, making a loud thud, but she didn't seem to notice this.

"What?" she asks, somewhat jealously. "How'd you know?"

"I got a feeling."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, a sixth sense." He taps his head with one finger, she nods as she comes up to him, and stares into the 's roof, at the _thing_ where the void comes through.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Beats me, I love it though. I used to feel so alone, but now, now I feel alive, with pleasant company."

She goes into the cell and underneath the _thing._ Looking at it as if it were not of this world. Luc stood next to the door, the switch to turn it on looked so tempting. The way he felt when her mind coated his like a blanket. He raised his left hand towards the switch, and studied the small prints on his palm, Ana was talking, but he paid no attention to her. Studying his palm as if ready to write a report about it.

 _Do it._ A little voice in head told him. The combination of drink and Psionics had unpredictable consequences, this much he knew. Yet he obediently moved his hand and closed it on the small switch.

He didn't even warn Ana when he turned it on.

The voids purple tendrils seeped out of the roof, and grasped the two minds it could find. Not his own accord, Luc stepped inside and came up in front of Ana, who only looked at him questioningly. Neither talked, just looked at each other like as if it was a long awaited reunion.

Though Ana stood taller than him, she still thought of him as an equal. She bent her head down, and slightly lowered herself to his level, and leaned her forehead against his own. Closing her eyes in the process. Luc did the same, they could both see each other's minds behind closed eyelids.

Perhaps it was the drunk state they were in, or for some other reason. But whatever it was, this time seemed a bit more calmer than before.

His mind started to poke at hers, and a sudden wave of realisation hit her. "Luc..This..are you sure?"

He had a small flashback to a few weeks ago, in the lab with Tygan. He was testing his blood again.

-XXX-

 _Apparently his illness had somehow accelerated in its growing process. Tygan knew not the reason, but Luc did. Coming close to death wasn't the only setback the 'incident' caused._

 _"…Your gift only tricks your mind to thinking you're not dying, you can only delay for so long. If you keep this up, your life expectancy will half itself, probably more. The Commander won't listen to me, and you won't either." Tygan said in a troubled tone._

 _"They need me, all of humanity is counting on us. I must keep going for those that couldn't."_

 _"What would she say? Have you told her yet?"_

 _"In time, I won't tell her, not just yet. Not yet, I don't know what she would do about it. I don't want to worry her."_

 _"You will only hurt her more when she finds out, best not delay."_

-XXX-

"I'm sure Ana. I trust you."

"And I trust you to."

So they opened there minds to one another, and both of their memories were shared between them. Luc saw Ana as a mere Neonate, though she was almost entirely orange all over her small body. He saw her grow over years, but it was only seconds in real time. Her small amount of combat training, her involvement in an off world ship. Her forceful dismissal of military operations due to her Queen. Her placement in discreet civilian population centres to hide from an Elder.

The most unique memory of hers was the guarding and support of a small school for human toddlers and young children. She was no teacher, that was for the humans. But she wished she was, the laughing younglings always made her smile, even if she only spent a week there before being moved by her Queen again.

Luc saw this through her eyes, an entire life's memories, in just a few seconds.

While he saw through her, she searched his memories as well. The start of his birth was very blurry, nothing could be made out but a glassy wall and muffled voices. Then he was in New Isa, his teenage self was nothing more than ordinary. A job from his friend Kurt got him good pay in a factory, And he was diagnosed with cancer not to long before he met her.

She couldn't find his birth, which was surprising, but the cancer took her thoughts about that away.

"C-Cancer?"

He didn't respond.

"Five years, did you say?"

"It's changed now, no more than two."

She was about to ask why. But he continued on.

"After we last did this, it seemed to speed it up."

"I should never had done this, what if it accelerates again?"

"Then I'll be glad I spent the time I have left with you."

He wrapped his arms around her waist, bringing her closer to him. She returned the gesture, his warm body stirred something inside her. She sent warm thoughts to his mind, and embraced him in a tight hold, as if promising to never let him go.

He could not have lied no more than Ana could lie to him. Luc would have stayed silent about his illness, but there connection was filled with honesty and warmness. This was so much more intimate than the most passionate act of intercourse would have ever been. This was the ultimate meeting of minds, as if they were a part of each other, like two sides of the same coin.

The both of them still had their heads locked, and their eyes closed for the whole time. The closeness of their bodies was almost inhumane.

"I could demonstrate a _smooch_ for you." Luc said.

And without her saying anything, he moved his mouth closer to hers, which was only an inch away. His lips connected to the middle of her own. She couldn't recoil at the contact, partly because she was locked in place to Luc, and partly because she didn't want to be separated from him. He pushed into her, and she pushed back, returning the 'smooch' with equal (if not more) passion.

It felt so natural for her to do the ' _smooch'_ , she had never seen nor done anything like this before. But Luc knew the basics on how to do it, and therefore, she did as well. She brought a hand up to the back of his head, deepening the contact between them, rubbing the silky white hair as she did so.

Luc didn't expect Ana to be so into this, being a Viper and all, but then again, he never looked at her like she was an alien, he had treated her as if she was just another human, a very _unique_ human woman. One that he had come to care deeply for.

For a moment, he thought he imagined her long slick tongue starting to enter his mouth. He remembered the potential the Viper's long tongues had in terms of grabbing and pulling in unlucky victims. Even the spiked tongue belonging to _The King_ had nearly cost him dearly. Yet all these thoughts of pain and trouble had been washed away when he accepted her into him, the thoughts replaced by ones of ecstasy.

The smell of the alcohol poisoned both of their breaths, but both of them paid no mind to it.

He forced himself onto her body, she fell on her back onto the bed, but never did their mouths or bodies separate for a moment as he landed on top of her on the white silky bed.

Something tripped in his head, catching him off guard. _What the hell am I doing?_ _This isn't how it's supposed to go down, And you know it._

She wrapped around him, both physically and mentally, but opened her eyes at his hesitation, he broke their mouths apart, and they both took in much needed breaths.

A wrenching feeling in Luc's stomach forced him to roll off of her, now on his back, he didn't even get a sound out of his mouth before he passed out.

-XXX-

His head was on fire, he felt the smooth cushions of his bed on his back, and the thin blankets kept his body warm. He clutched his head with both hands as a long whistling penetrated his hearing. The _thing_ on the roof was still online, and he could only hear the sound of his own breathing after the whistling passed on.

 _My head.._ he thought to himself. _That was one long dream._

This void _thing_ was really starting to get to him, he shouldn't have slept with it on, it always gave him bad dreams, yet this one was different in some way, but his birthday wasn't until a few days. Luc scanned the lab outside, spotless, no sign of a party at all. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Except maybe the second cell _was_ gone.

And the fact Ana was half piled on his lap, with her bottom half tail dangling loosely off the bed, along with his legs. She rested her head on both of her hands, and on his stomach, it was weird, how light she was, he thought she would be heavy, but she was as light as a feather.

On instinct he breathed in from the shock. _That was no dream._

She began to stir, he halted his breath, his stomach had moved her head slightly. Luc thought she would wake, but she merely tightened herself around him before resuming her sleep. She made very small, almost inaudible breaths, she looked (and felt) peaceful as could be, her rhythmic breathing almost brought him into a trance.

He dropped his head back. Thinking about what he was going to do when she wakes up.

She stirred again, he had let out his breath too quickly without realising.

Ana had heard his thoughts loudly inside her own head, she groggily opened her eyes and raised her torso up. She had wrapped some of herself around something, she opened her eyes with some effort, and saw purple iris' looking back at her. She lay atop Luc, in a rather confronting position, her body shaped in some sort of weird 's' shape.

Her eyes widened into giant orbs as she looked like she just won the lottery. And Luc had a similar look.

After a few seconds, Luc made a nervous and quiet click of his tongue. "Uh, hi."

She was dumbfounded, she didn't remember lying on Luc (or his bed). She still wore her vest armour, and he still had his clothes on, that was at least somewhat comforting.

"Hi."

"Sleep well?"

She didn't respond at first, she tried recalling how she got into this position, but came up blank.

"You want to know what happened?"

She nods. Luc played his memory back to her, he remembered every detail, all the way up until passing out with her coiled in his bed.

"How did you do that?"

"What?"

"How did you show me your memory?"

"We both did it last night, through the _thing_ up there, you know about my past, and I, yours."

Now it all came back to her, his cancer, his past, his very _essence_ was all known to her.

"You…you have cancer?" she asked.

"Yes. Don't worry, you won't get it through… _smooching._ " He smiled towards the end.

"Luc, be serious! I'm not worried about me! I'm worried about you! I…"

He brought his mouth to hers, halting her words, she tried to pry off, but succumbed to the feeling, and pushed her head back against his. They went like that for half a minute before she broke it.

"I…I.." Luc began.

"What?"

"Could you…excuse me for a moment?"

She tried to untangle herself from him. First she tried her tail, but Luc had attempted to help by shuffling and crossing his legs to speed up the process. This only made things go slower as her tail formed into an odd knot shape.

"C'mon, I just.. _really_ need to go."

"Hang on just…move your leg to the left.. _my_ left...no that's the right."

Luc was in an unusual hurry, he stood up and left for the doorway, Ana was still bundled around him as he raced for the exit.

"What's the..." She clutched her stomach. "...hurry?"

She managed to unwrap her tail from his legs, she was about to slide off, but Luc shrugged her off like a backpack, and raced into a door directly opposite the Psi Lab door. He yelled out ' _sorry'_ as he slammed the door shut. She sat up on her elbows and saw an odd symbol above the door he entered. Two figures, one had a triangular body, the other looked normal, the little white figures stood side by side in a small blue box.

She heard odd sounds coming from Luc's door.

 _Blaegh! Hurreugh!_

"L-Luc?"

 _Gah!_

"You alright in there?"

The horrifying sounds stopped. "I'm quite fine, heh, _don't remember eating that…"_

"What's wrong with you?"

"Oh, just ah..freshening up!"

 _Clorg!_

She knew perfectly well what he was doing inside. Was he disgusted by her? Did he find her vile when she laid on his bed for the night? They were different species, alien and human relationships were almost nonexistent in this new world. She dropped her head in shame, now intent on listening to nothing but the sounds of Luc's disgust.

He exited the room a moment later, a long flushing could be heard from behind him, she could swear he was slightly less pale than he was a minute ago, he also had a big smile on his face, and he no longer walked fast or clutched his stomach in pain.

"Phew, that's much better." he said as he stretched out his arms.

He noticed Ana now only giving him a side glance and stare at the floor.

He read her thoughts.

"No, no Ana, that's just the alcohol. I don't find you disgusting. It's just that I…"

She clutched her belly, underneath her vest armour, with a pained look on her face.

"Can I..."

He steps away from the door, and she speeds inside, and does something similar to Luc.

-XXX-

Ana was in there for much longer than Luc was. He had quickly made his way to the cafeteria and fetched a bottle of water (many others were in similar situations) for Ana. When he returned, he sat next to the bathroom and listened to the sounds of a snake vomiting.

 _She's not just a snake._ Luc thought as he listened to the alien sounds from behind him. He thought about how she felt like a blanket, the smooth but tough scales against his skin, and the long tongue that she had…

He shook his head, he couldn't think like this, especially with Ana's mind nearby, now that they were connected in such a way, no thoughts were safe between them, he could relate what Ana was feeling right now. It was like a mix of ingredients in some complicated recipe, all put together to make some odd and relatable thought.

 _What is this chunky discharge?_

"You alright Ana?"

 _No._

"Yes." she said instead.

"I know your lying!" he replied as he sat and waited, sipping on water as he did so.

After a few minutes of silence, she flushed the toilet, and exited the room. She saw Luc sitting against the wall, and slumped down beside him.

"…er..gain." she whispered as she sat beside him.

"Hey?"

"Never. Again." she moaned.

"But Ana…" He said as if he had been grounded. "That's what it's all about."

Her slitted eyes seemed to bore into him, but Luc still smiled even as she looked like she was about to kill. _Maybe not kill, but harm._

 _No, I'll kill you._

 _Well, I didn't think you'd have so much, or it would have the same effect on you._

She gave a low hiss, and looked away. He didn't need to ask twice to know that she was in a horrible mood. She was clenching her fists, and the hiss was fairly threatening. He couldn't blame her, first times always the worst.

With only a little bit of hesitance, he rested his hand on her fist. She quickly looked back at him with her head, and widened her hood, he didn't know what this meant, but it paid off, as she seemed to relax, and loosened her tense body ever so slightly.

"So…now that we've…you know…slept together, what does…uh, that...mean?"

She widened her eyes again, forgetting herself what this meant.

"I mean we didn't….you know…I don't even know if Vipers do that. I mean you probably do but. I'm gonna stop talking now."

She still didn't say anything, sure they didn't _mate,_ but they might as well have in terms of her species…

 _He's not going to like what this means…_

-XXX-

Our Elder walked the dessert like the man he was chasing. His body wasn't as frilled like his brothers and sisters, at least, not as much. They weren't like him, they would sooner shrug off this human and Viper traitors than do anything about it. So he followed the path of the man with great effort.

It didn't matter if the elements tried to hide his tracks, he floated slightly off the ground as he followed the trail left behind. Sand coated the human footprints, but he could make out some of them, it lead him ever towards the west.

He passed a small shack not too long ago. An old man that said nothing to him, and who would never speak again, he only needed the old man's mind to know the he was on the right track.

After a long time of many days and nights, someone called out to him, a K'yul, who spoke to him from many miles away.

" _Mysir, have you come to help us?"_ it asked slowly.

" _What do you speak about?"_ Our Elder stopped in his tracks at the sudden psionic conversation.

" _I thought you've come to support our assault on this human settlement."_

" _I came to find a young man who walked this dessert."_ He sent a mental image to the K'yul of the one he spoke of.

" _Ah, he's here with me. But our assault is about to begin, with respect, we should be enough to destroy this place, but we could use you as well."_

" _Keep him alive, don't let him leave no matter what. I'm coming to you."_

Our Elder picked up the pace in his floating as he made his way to the K'yul's position.

-XXX-

The human tracks had gone in circles for some time, but now that the K'yul had given him much needed information, he was much closer to his goal.

The human settlement crossed over the horizon in the distance, long trails of smoke reached up to the heavens, and large bonfires burnt the surrounding forest.

He had approached the gate, one side of it was torn off, the other was slanted at an odd angle. He floated over the debris that littered the whole ground. He approached the dying mind of the K'yul he sensed about fifty meters away.

He passed burning clotheslines and destroyed boxes filled with expired food, along with many human and trooper bodies with their guns clutched to their sides, the place stank of death and decay.

In the centre of it all was the last of the K'yul. He had multiple pellets in his mid section, he took pity on his kind, they didn't die straight away, only through mercy could they find peace in the afterworld.

" _Where is the human?"_ the Elder asked.

" _He…He killed me, I don't understand…"_

" _Where is he?"_ he repeated.

" _Other humans, in a dropship. Wearing XCOM insignia's..they took him."_

The Elder searched the thoughts the dying K'yul's mind, and found a strange yet relatable feeling in the human named Luc's mind. The purple eyes, they had strange power behind them, he took this feeling into his mind like a picture, now he could search for the human much more efficiently.

To end the suffering of his useful shape shifter that lay on the ground in silence, he crushed its mind with his own. Quick and clean, no need for more blood, not to mention the Elder's fragile hands or feet couldn't do the job, they were as skinny as bones, walking caused him great pain.

He had travelled alone out here, now there was nothing left but death. The Elder called to his nearby escorts that were some distance away, high in the sky.

His personnel ship landed in a nearby clearing. Back in the initial invasion, the humans called this kind of ship an 'Overseer UFO' which wasn't too far off what its purpose was to do. It was flat and was shaped in a wide circle, somewhat like a disc. He entered and winded his way through the corridors to the control terminal in the centre.

" _Let us find this Luc."_ He told his crew of about fifty or so (These composed of almost all races, but no Muton's or Viper's were aboard, this was for personnel reasons). They all nodded and prepared for lift off.

They flew high above the clouds. He searched for a long time for even a sliver of familiarity of Luc's psionic presence.

The search took very long, but he eventually found the ship he was aboard, escorted by three dropships filled with traitors.

He could take them all out in one fell swoop.

" _Prepare to fire…"_


	16. Act IV: Vexing

Act IV: Vexing

About eight days had past for Luc and his team to finally return to combat duty. They had all received top of the line armour and weapons that could be provided, plasma weapons were now a common sight among human troops, almost matching up to the rifles the Viper's and Muton's had already been carrying. Ana had personally delivered well over two litres of pure venom from her fangs for Tygan to research, apparently it could make the medkit's even more efficient in healing even the deepest of wounds.

Most of the Avengers reserves were out in the field, and the alien dropships (Now nicknamed the 'Rangers') were in use to help engage larger targets the Commander was desperate to destroy. This left only Ana, Luc and Dan to hack a small ADVENT terminal in a rural area in Germany. They were to avoid contact at all costs, and evacuate with the data as soon as possible. The other three of their squad (which they still hadn't named) were busy attacking the 'Codex Brain Coordinates' with most of the other higher ranked troops.

She had a new medkit attached to the side of her heavy armour. On her left was Luc wearing his new 'Psionic Armour' and alien amplifier on his back, holding a new human plasma rifle. Just above and behind them was Papa, the old sniper was perched on a large boulder, which hid the Skyranger from view. She and Luc had crept up out of the rocky area and into a small clearing. Up ahead were a series of houses lined in a large semi circle, with one central building standing out among them, small winding streets twisted and turned throughout the small town, all of them weighed down by ADVENT feet.

Taking calls from the ever vigilant sniper, they cautiously moved closer and closer to the central building without alerting anyone. That was until a lone trooper looked the wrong way at the right time, but before it could call out, Luc had quickly erased its mind, and it continued on its way. They went further into the town, sticking to the shadows of the buildings.

The people didn't walk out into the heavily policed streets anymore, the severe threat of human terrorists had caused much panic in many countries. Cloning requests were in large demand across the globe, and Germany was no exception. But no matter if there was twenty troopers or forty, none of them managed to detect the traitorous Viper and human sneaking into the back door of the old and haggard building in the centre, which looked just about ready to collapse in on itself.

It was midnight, and the light pollution was almost nonexistent, they were surprised the troopers on the streets could see. Dan commented how dark it was from where he was, but Luc thought differently, having psionics had its perks.

' _Wait here.'_ Luc had whispered as he slipped into the rusty metal door that was already ajar when they came across it. As he disappeared inside, small drops of water fell from above, some of the more lucky drops blinded her eyes as she hunkered down behind a green garage box to shield her form. The night had been so warm, yet now it felt like winter.

Apart from the ever increasing rain drops, all that could be heard were small firm clicks as two ADVENT sets of boots walked the streets, none of them the wiser as the Viper watched from no more than ten meters away, lurking in the nights shadows, beam rifle charged and ready to kill.

That was until alarm bells started ringing through the now no longer quiet air.

She looked back at the door to see Luc burst through it with a crazed expression, he held a small datapad which he attached to his hip. He primed his rifle and spoke to her not through words.

 _Time to go._

She nodded, looked back, and fired two beams of death into the two troopers, who never even knew where she was, alarm or not. They had approached from cover to cover, taking well over fifteen minutes, no they would charge right out of here, as if they were on the beaches of the blood islands again, only this time in reverse.

Luc was a few paces ahead of her, he ran as fast as his legs could take him, ducking and dodging under the constant fire, raising his rifle above his head, firing blindly in an attempt to cover his exposed exit path as he ran. Ana was more versatile, she aimed and fired with as much precision as if she was standing still, her tail carried her at the same speed as Luc.

The old sniper had fired about six plasma shots after the alarms sounded off, resulting in six successive kills. But this was all for nothing as two dropships flew in and replaced the fallen ones.

"Get your asses here now!" Dan yelled as he fired off like a madman, a powerful, accurate madman.

"Working on it!" Luc yelled back as he dived behind a small boulder on the boundaries of the town. He had taken one nasty shot to his hip on his crazy run through the open. But he checked himself over, the datapad was intact, but it didn't feel like _he_ was.

Ana however was much to agile to be hit even once, she had already made it back to the snipers position before she realised Luc was currently pinned down and wounded. Her heart skipped a beat as she turned and fired at anything that was a threat, Killing off another two troopers in a matter of seconds.

It had been well over five unwanted minutes of nothing but the high pitched squeals of bullets and plasma over Luc's head. He had controlled two minds, and put one more into stasis, but this was not enough. He had to move, and the time to move was _now._

"Making a pass." Luc said calmly as he put his gun to his back, and bolted towards the Skyranger.

"Wait!" But Ana's warning fell on deaf ears, he had already begun running the gauntlet.

Time seemed to slow down for Luc as he made his way across to the only way out of here. He took a small glance to his left, trails of red hot bullets soared in between his arms that swung out in front of him. More bullets passed between his legs and screamed passed his head. But he didn't come out unscathed, one, two, three, four bullets found there marks all over his body. His Psi armour was light, and he moved with grace, but when it came to protection, it could have been better. Every part of him began to feel deaths cold touch, he even saw an outburst of a small amount of blood spew out from the front of his right leg, as a bullet tore through him one side, and came out the other.

But he did not scream. Nor did he stop his limping form, he wouldn't give them the satisfaction. After reaching the point where Ana stood, clutching her rifle and waving him in, he put his mind and body into stasis, he knew perfectly well if he did not stop himself from bleeding that he would die. But this cost him his ability to move, and he collapsed onto the gravelly ground behind the boulder his two squad mates were behind.

It mattered not how many times she pulled the trigger, the amount of fire Luc received was too much for an ordinary human. But of course, he was no _ordinary_ human, he took too many shots and simply shrugged them off, she was slightly impressed, but the blood put her off slightly.

His whole body went stiff, but she wasted no time in pulling him into the Skyranger. A long red trail painted the ground in a thick line where she dragged him from, she gripped underneath his arms and hoisted him up the Skyranger's ramp. Papa had run inside after her, they both crouched down side by side Luc's body as the door closed.

"Luc! Can you hear me?" she almost yelled. But as Luc lay there, there was one thought that was clear.

 _What a shitty piece of armour._

"Get this bird moving Firebrand! Back to base now!" Papa said as he clutched his hand to his ear. After a moment, shots pounded against the hull as they lifted off into the air at high speed.

"M….it…." Luc whispered behind gritted teeth. Ana leaned her head in, inches from his own. And asked him what he said.

" _Medkit."_

What an idiot she thought she was. She unclipped the kit from her side, fumbled around with the lock and switch on the pistol-like thing for a moment, and sprayed the gel over his wounds. First his sides, then his arms, ending with his lower thigh, lifting his leg caused him to recoil, she saw what looked like gallons of blood seeping onto the cold metal floor, but it stopped after she used the kit on him, it seemed her venom was quick to heal as well as kill.

Luc lifted his head to see all the red on the floor, then dropped his head back with a sigh. "I have to clean that…don't I?"

"Hey, it's _your_ blood." said Papa with a smile.

Ana couldn't comprehend what they both started laughing about. Cleaning? And laughing at blood? This was something she has never seen before, this much joy with this much blood was unheard of in her time in ADVENT, she may have laughed along with them, had she not been worried sick.

"Think I might go back to warden armour." Luc commented as he examined the thin plating on his arm. To him it felt like simple clothing, it was almost weightless.

"Well, it's not exactly meant for recklessness. What happened anyway? How did the alarm go off?" Papa asked as he set down his sniper in a hold in the wall.

"Tripped as soon as I hacked in. It's not my fault."

 _Yes, it is._ She thought to him

 _No.  
Yes.  
Nah.  
Yeah._

"Why are you two staring so intensely at each other?"

They looked as if daring one another to make a wrong move, like two siblings getting the other to hit first so they can get in trouble. Luc put on a fake smile and turned away from Ana.

"Oh, nothing just…just talking."

"Talking?"

Luc began to relax himself, he felt really light headed, probably from the lack of blood.

"Not again…" he said as he passed out. Ana shook her head, but still stayed at his side on the way back to the Avenger.

-XXX-

Luc groggily woke up inside the med bay. He saw white bandages covering most of his arms and legs. His left side of his body was also in great pain. Although he couldn't see it, he could feel a chunk of his hip was gone, about the size of a thumb. But that seemed to be the worst of it, except for the hole in his leg.

"Be glad your artery wasn't severed Luc." Tygan stood to his left, Luc's bed was the last of a row of other white beds, all linked up to machines designed to save lives. Tygan was monitoring a screen out of Luc's view, but wasn't the least bit interested, he knew he was fine.

"I am, so when do I get out?"

"Get out?" He gives a small chuckle. "There is no 'getting out' for you for at least two weeks."

 _You got to be kidding me._

"Two weeks?!"

"I was enjoying the quiet…" Ana's voice filled his ears to his right. She had been slumbered in a chair next to his bed which he hadn't noticed.

"I'm gonna sit here for two weeks in the quiet!"

"I don't think you realise Luc, you had to put yourself into stasis just to stay alive. Anyone else would have died outright."

Luc folded his arms like a grumpy child. But took them back a moment later, he had stretched the wounds in his arms to far.

"See? I'll leave you two now. Don't leave that bed, for your own good." And with that, Tygan left. Giving Luc free reign to mumble curses under his breath.

Luc brought his left leg across, and planted both feet on the floor, he would have none of this. He went to stand up, but Ana pressed her hands on his shoulders.

"Stop Luc. You must rest."

"I feel fine. You know I do."

"Yes, but you _not_ fine."

"Get off, I'm not going to sit here doing nothing."

They had never argued like this until now, he started talking with a small threat in his tone, catching Ana slightly off guard. She stopped her usual calm tone and spoke in a way she hasn't done ever before.

"What happens if you go out and hurt yourself? Trip on the stairs? Collapse on a ladder? You could never leave, or probably die. And what would that do to everyone else? What would your death do to everyone who cares for you? How do you think going and hurting yourself will make your friends feel? Stop being so selfish and think about everyone else for _once_!"

"Two of my friends are _dead_!" Luc almost yelled. "And I killed them! Because I didn't do enough to save them!"

Small amounts of tears began to swell in the bottom of his eyes, but he held them back. He lowered his voice.

"And yet…I don't feel a thing for them. Not a goddamn thing. Like I'm just some machine, who can't give a damn about anyone."

"What about me Luc? Do you give a damn about me?"

He didn't think or say anything. He wanted to scream that he did, but held himself back.

"I don't want to lose you Ana, I want to be there with you…I…"

She lifts his medallion from a small desk beside the bed, and holds it out to him.

"I'm always with you, and you, me."

He takes it into his hands slowly, eyes now adrift in the small metallic ones of the necklace. She was right, he was being selfish, It was true, _he_ was the one wounded, _he_ was the one who needed help. _He_ can't even help himself, how was he supposed to help the others?

 _Don't think like that Luc. I don't want you to get hurt anymore than you already are. You just need to rest, then you can come back good as new._

He nodded slowly in understanding.

"Promise me you won't leave this room. Not until Tygan says your better."

"I…I promise." he said after some hesitation, but he did mean it, he _knew_ he did. But at the same time, he _knew_ he was lying. But he hid his thoughts well, as Ana smiled back at him.

"I'll come in every day."

She did just that. Every day she would walk in first thing in the morning, and leave when it got late. Every time she would appear in the far door, he face and eyes would light up like stars. Something changed inside him, he would always be in a bad mood when she wasn't around, but it changed whenever he spied her coming in. She noticed the way he looked at her sometimes, and it had been ten days in until they started to talk about it.

"Always glad to see you, I suppose." Luc answered when she asked him about it.

"That it? Your just 'glad' to see me?"

"No, no its just whenever I see you, I get this feeling, I can't express it through words."

"Then use your mind."

He tried, but for some reason, he couldn't get her to hear him. An awkward silence passed by until Luc broke it.

"You're not seeing anyone are you?"

"What?"

"I mean..someone _special_ in your life?"

She held back a gasp. "Oh…no nothing like that."

He gave a relieved sigh. "Good…good."

"What about you, are you…looking for anyone in your life? Maybe after all this is over?"

 _Come on Luc, this is it._

"Yeah, and I think I know where to find her."

" **Attention: All personnel, prepare for impact.** " A feminine robotic voice called out over the ships intercoms. Next moment, something hit against the Avenger's hull, and the whole ship rocked towards the side.

"What the f-"

Another impact, although this one sounded far away, then two more came after that. The sounds were like missiles, only there were no explosions.

The Avenger began to lose its momentum, and it felt as if they had begun falling to the ground, if the beds and machines weren't bolted down, they would be smashing against the roof. They clung to the bed rails with crushing grips.

-XXX-

Our Elder had been trailing behind the traitor ships for about ten minutes, he had prepared four disabling shots during this time, as well as a deployable disruptor for when they were on the ground. He could sense the minds of both aliens and humans. Only one of which was of any interest to him.

" _Fire!"_

The shots of pure energy connected with their targets, first to hit was the large captured transporter, then the dropships. He heard many panicked thoughts wash through him as they tumbled and turned out of the skies, and onto the forest stricken plains down below.

He ordered the descent, when the ships came into view they lay strewn across the bottom of a large hill. Taking the advantage, he ordered the landing be on the peak of the hill, and the disruptor kept out of sight atop the hill as well, he had them trapped now, after a quick year of searching (a year earth time was relatively short to his kind), he had found what he wanted.

One of the traitor ships didn't land quite properly, and exploded on the hill slope, but that didn't matter, the one he wanted was in the captured transport.

-XXX-

Power had gone out, the humming stopped, and the lights went red. But before the ship could hit the ground, someone had fixed whatever had happened, and the descent was slowed, and Ana could feel the ship land very slowly and with much gentleness onto the ground.

The same calm voice of the woman came over the ship once more. " **All able soldiers, report to the hanger for immediate combat deployment. The Avenger is under attack.** "

As soon as it fell silent, Luc shot out his legs, and stood up with a small grunt, clutching the bed rail for some support.

"No, she said _able_. You stay here."

Luc stopped himself. "I get out in a few days, I think I'm good to go Ana."

"Luc..I have to go, _alone_ , your no good in your state, you might die."

"What about you? What if you die?"

"I won't Luc, I just _won't_."

"Then promise me, promise me that you'll come back, that you will come back onto this ship."

She squeezed his hands. "I promise." But words were words, she could only hope she wouldn't break them.

Luc reluctantly let go of her, she slithered out to the doorway, she was halfway out before she stopped herself, she rested one hand on the doorframe and peered behind her. There he was, still stood next to the bed, sad to see her go. She loved the feelings she felt from him. She let go of the door, and made her way to the hanger.

-XXX-

The alarms were blaring, the humans desperately tinkered with panels and machines in the walls, she saw one man had a terrible accident, his body lay in a small pool of blood, but he was being tended to, but she had seen nothing yet.

The hanger was complete chaos, the soldiers desperately rushed themselves to equip what gear they had.

"Just in time Ana!" Central said the moment he saw her, chucking her tail armour at her in the process, she caught it with two hands, and placed it on herself without even thinking about it. Around her were the sounds of many scurrying humans, all passing off weapons and armour to one another. Mutons and other Angelko did the same, but most of them had been on the dropships…

"What happened?"

"They want this ship intact, but I can't say for the other three, one of them is down. The other two are inoperable, but our real problem is a thing…"

A small shockwave shook the ship, rocking them back and forth once before ceasing. The same thing happened about ten seconds later. She was about to ask what it was, but he simply pointed to the ramp, it was open, the side of a hill was all she could see.

"Fall out Ana! I'm announcing our situation to all squads in a minute, get to the bottom of the ramp!"

So she did, she slithered along with two other Elite's of her kind. Once she reached the ramps opening, she slowed her pace as she descended. Four captured ADVENT turrets lay on the sides of the ramp, there former logo's scratched out, replaced by the XCOM insignia. She crouched down behind a barrier, she couldn't see the others of her squad anywhere, but at least twelve of her allies were at the bottom of the ramp when she joined them.

In front and slightly above them, an ominous yet beautiful field of pink roses and vegetation lay in the bed of a great green hill. It would have been beautiful, if it was not for the edges of an Elder craft protruding from the peak of the hill.

"All right people." Central said of the radio built into her suit, just below the neck. "Situation critical, a powerful radiation signature is coming from up ahead on the hill. We need to take that thing out if we want get out of here."

About halfway up the hill was a burning wreck of one of the dropships that had been redone to be distinguished from normal ADVENT ones. They had painted blue stripes on the side, but this one was nothing but ash and fire, she tried to look away from the wreck, corpses of her kind were dangling out of the edges, but couldn't.

Four more Mutons piled out off the ramp and behind trees, they just needed the go ahead from Central. A great orange beam of light shone into the sky from the peak of the hill, it pulsed as the shockwave came at them again, pulsing and un-pulsing like a heartbeat.

Pheebs had crouched down next to her, she was still adjusting her armour when she took cover near her.

"Hey Ana, you seen the others?"

"No." she replied grimly. But after that, the radios went into static, before new voices entered through the small devices.

"Squad…whatever, what's your status?" the voice of the Commander piped in.

"Ana here, me and Pheebs are at the ramp."

"This is Nox, me and Thalia are in Ranger-2, its being fixed up as we speak,"

"Papa?"

"Just getting my rifle Commander, two seconds."

"Ana, Pheebs, you will push to the right side, but first…"

" _Found you, after all this time, I've found you._ " A somewhat old voice called out, it spoke painfully slow, and dragged out every second word. They looked up to the hilltop, almost all the races of the coalition were there, all except hers and the Muton's. Dozens upon dozens of troopers made a great arc around the craft. Backed up by MEC's of many colours, which stood in front of High Ones, with their green staffs in hands. Behind them were Surn-tal's, and more great tall mechanical contraptions.

In the centre of the arc were six suits of armour, with the heads being a large dome filled with bubbly green liquid, she had only ever seen one of them before now. They were called the Velk, though she knew little about them, other than they couldn't bear oxygen like the rest of the species.

And there, in the centre of the ranks, looking like a king, was an Elder, _the_ Elder. The one whom she had met before, last seen with the Queen.

She and the rest of XCOM trained their guns on him, his forces aimed back, they were just less than ninety meters apart, yet the Elders voice sang out as if he was in their very heads.

The Elders arms were folded into his robe, he had a strange physical aura surrounding him like a bubble. A purple shield, expanding about five meters away from his centre point. He floated above his army and opened his arms wide.

" _The humans mind saved me a lot of time, I thought you'd be tucked away with the rats, I wasn't too far off, was I?"_

"Whose A2? And why does it sound so weak? Things taller than Thalia..." Pheebs whispered, never taking her eyes of the distant yet unmistakable form of the Elder.

" _We do not have to fight. I have not called in the entire armada just yet. I just want one thing, and you can leave, I will tell no one. Trust me."_

Another shockwave, this one sounded a little bit more threatening, if it ever could.

" _Look at you, allying yourselves with the dying rebels, you would live longer had you just avoided these people."_

"I cannot bare another word!" Xida had shouted to Ana's right, he fired a single burst at the distant Elder, his purple shield brightened on the impact, but that was all his canon had done.

" _Such blind hatred, you still carry the mistakes of your old selves, just to serve and die, it's all you've ever known..."_

He grunted, and punched his gun, his own little way of reloading it.

" _And you, A2, Your kind has always embraced our help, yet you and your Queen turn your backs so quickly, you're kind bares the gift in a way no others have. Are you not grateful for our help? You would not be what you are today if not for us."_

This wasn't true, she thought this Elder mad, it had treated her poorly, her Queen poorly, she had to be hidden to get away from his wrath.

" _I never treated you poorly, I thought so highly of you and your Queen. Exceptionally loyal and intelligent beings, what gave you the idea of me being so tyrannical?"_

No..no he was wrong, she had to be tucked away to hide, the Queen would never let it harm her.

" _She always was blind to the truth, I never intended on you leaving into those war torn islands, I merely...'called her bluff', yet she stood strong, long enough for you to escape. I wanted you to stay, yet it was your Queen that sent you there…wasn't it?"_

It was lying, _it_ sent her there, not the Queen.

" _I can explain it all to you, you can ask her yourself if you want. Lower your weapons, you and the Muton's, come aboard. I will let you all live, and XCOM can go on its way, there doesn't need to be any more bloodshed."_

This sparked up something within the XCOM ranks, uncertain looks from the aliens caused whatever trust they had with the humans to shatter like broken glass. The Commander ordered a general order to all squads, and they all stood motionless.

"He...he has a point." Ana said to no one in particular.

Pheebs gave her a shocked look. "W-What? Ana you.."

"Have been lied to." she interrupted, now losing faith in her friends. She stood up, and walked into the open field in front of her, gun now pointed to the ground below her in defeat. She was not joined by anyone else, she crossed to the halfway point between XCOM and the Elder's troops.

Matching her slow pace, the Elder hovered down the hill towards her, his troops a few long paces behind him, still in formation.

" _Do not be too harsh on yourself. Your faith in us will be rewarded."_ It was now a few meters ahead of her, it outstretched one long skinny arm, and offered it to her, its palm facing the ground.

" _Are you the only one to rejoin us? Do the others wish to redeem themselves?"_

Ana, no…A2. A2 was lied to for her whole life. A2 felt like a youngling again, small and helpless. Her only redemption was to take the Elder's hand before her.

She nods slowly. "I think they'll come around, they'll have a lot to give you."

" _Give me? I don't need anything apart from you, maybe that gifted human, he feels most unusual, but no, just you, your fine."_

She smiles. "Sure about that?" And with lightning reflexes, she ducks and weaves behind a nearby tree, hunkering down and lifting her rifle above her head like a shield.

The Elder looked on with confusion, he hadn't heard the quiet engines of Ranger-2 fly in from behind the Avenger, he only noticed when it flew overhead, with Thalia and Nox in the windows firing wildly as it made a slow pass for a clear shot on the Elder and its lackeys.

They had lured him into the open, what a fool he thought he was.

Thalia sprayed down all she could fire at, the Elders shield held, but that didn't stop him from falling back into the mass of his forces. Nox shot at the troopers, gunning down the lightly armoured troopers.

The rest of XCOM joined in firing at the exposed enemy. The pink roses soon were coated with yellow blood.

" _Kill them…Wipe them out!"_ The Elder cried as he sank back to his ship like a rodent to its nest.

The thick wood of the tree Ana sat behind was her only friend out here, between two groups of soldiers desperate to kill each other, she had to sink down only a few inches off the ground to safely scurry across the hill to some grey rocks on the right that jutted out of the ground like knuckles.

Above her Thalia shouted profanities as she continuously lay her canon on the window and fired endless blue streams of death into the ADVENT ranks, she could almost imagine the jealous look on Nox's face, the sky was no place for a man with a sword.

The XCOM turrets blared, the soldiers had not stopped firing, every few minutes more and more humans would run down the ramp to join the fight. Some of the died on the way down, nothing they could do but race to the ground or stay inside.

A MEC had stood up on the rock she sat behind, it aimed its rifle down at her, but a bolt of plasma tore its head clean off, it slumped over the rock in an awkward pose, as if celebrating.

"More where that came from, stay down for now Ana." Papa's voice called over the radio, he had been laying at the top of the ramp with his sniper.

" _A2…you're a fool, like your Queen, she's as good as dead, and I'll make you watch her suffer!"_

"The Elder down?" Central's voice called.

"No. His shield is weakened." she replied.

"Very brave thing you did, I'm surprised he didn't catch onto you…Everyone! Push up the hill, don't give them anymore room!"

"Way ahead of you!" Thalia shouted over her deafening canon, she had replaced it with a new one, this one shot green beams, it was raining death as her ship circled around, rocking back and forth from the constant fire from ADVENT.

"I can't keep up!" Nox yelled, Thalia simply laughed him away.

MEC's provided cover to troopers that cowered behind them, each took slow steps backwards from the oncoming waves of fire from XCOM. Slowly but surely, the ADVENT forces lost ground as they fell back to the ship on top of the hill. Some of the Velk stubbornly kept their ground, but there ferocious loyalty was brought to a swift end, even as the hunk of metal took control from the dead pilots, now nothing more than a mindless robot who swayed its arms in wild furry. The robotic suits died again, the humans showed no mercy, this was a fight to the death, they lose here, they lose everything.

Ana joined the advance, firing at anything and everything above her. GREMLIN drones soared above her, firing electric bots in random directions. The Elder had reached the hilltop, and was firing bright balls of purple energy down towards her, she ducked and weaved, and blocked her mind as best she could to his endless taunts.

About forty meters ahead, the Elder had gone.

"Dropships! Left side!" someone called over the gunfire.

"Keep pushing forward! Don't let the Elder get away!" the Commander ordered.

The humans fought mercilessly, almost all of them gritted their teeth in the chaos. The flowers that lay all around had once housed a peaceful part of earths nature. From the sky the spots of fire laid about like an odd polka-dot painting. Would the blood ever run dry? Would it still be scorched with burnt marks of plasma in the future?

But at this moment, it looked like the fields of hell, no side would come out of this unscathed. The sun had begun to set, painting Ana's eyes blood red as she killed her way forward. She had forgotten her time with the coalition, forgotten the deaths of all those humans she killed in the name of ADVENT.

She would not rest until this fight is over.

The Elder was thirty meters ahead.

-XXX-

It was a bloodbath.

She had lost three corporals and two sergeants in the first ten minutes of the defence. She had the outflow of the reserves limited to one solider every minute, the ramp was blackened with scorch marks, those who even set foot on it were either killed or heavily wounded. It was fortunate her Majors and Captains where already out there, but it may not be enough.

They had pushed forward to about the halfway point. The Commander carefully ordered individual's who to fire on and where to move, but the Aliens were given free reign, each time a Muton charged or a Viper died, she had to adapt.

It was a good thing Ranger-2 was there to give air support, without it, they may have already lost. Ranger-3 was inoperable, but even with Thalia and Kurt's air superiority, they were still outnumbered. And the constant flow of ADVENT reinforcements didn't help.

"The entire ADVENT network is lit up! Battleships are in tow to this location Commander!"

She monitored the field of death blossomed flowers from the many exterior cameras of the Avenger, she had never seen an Elder this close before, just a hundred or so meters outside the hull of her command quarters. It threw its mind out and killed a captain with but the flick of his hand. She couldn't deal with this with so few people.

She needed _everyone_. She had to risk everyone, just to fight another day.

"Central, get Luc geared up. We need psionics on our side." She called over to Centrals frequency.

"Roger that."

-XXX-

Surn-tal gave no quarter, even to their own dead. The once dead corpses of the troopers now rose from the flower beds, some of the roses stuck to them when they rose up from the ground. The petals stuck into the small gaps in between there armour. They pulled back their lips behind odd shaped teeth as they lumbered forwards, clutching their sides and hunching over as they did so.

The drunk-like undead walked ever closer to the XCOM lines, they marched forward in a makeshift formation, but they were no tougher than they were alive.

The undead ones fell, just as they had done before.

 _The tip of the spear Ana, where you belong._

The General was good enough to give her this experience. She was the one to advance the furthest, she was almost in line with the ADVENT defence, she didn't hold back, none of the Angelko did, but none were as determined as she was.

Another long five minutes passed, they had been halted by the Elders rapid attacks at close range. Then a familiar mind entered her own. And Its deep voice sounded out through the radio.

"Warlock Lance, ready to…fry the mind." Luc said as he hastily dashed down the ramp, this time he was unscathed.

No response apart from the sounds of beams and bullets.

"No?..Sounded better in my head.."

"What!?" Thalia shouted over her canon fire.

"I said it sounded better in my head!"

"What!?"

"Nothing!"

Luc flicks his hand, and in front of Ana was an ADVENT captain, its grenade exploded on its own, and she pushed forward to another tree.

The Elder, about twenty meters now.

Luc had little trouble crossing the battlefield, though he didn't realise it, he was a symbol of hope and motivation for the ones still waiting inside the hanger bay. He had been known as truly the most dangerous among the whole of the combat division, some were even fearful of him, yet the white haired operative lead the soldiers into battle, without even turning his head. A bunch of other soldiers had begun pouring out of the hanger after him, ADVENT was on its heels, and they just needed to plunge the knife.

Luc joined Ana a minute later, he slid up to a tree beside her own, slightly out of breath, he gave a thumbs up as he lifted his rifle and fired at a Velk, who shuddered on impact. He wore bright blue warden armour, a lot better than the psionic armour from before.

" _The gifted human approaches, such a wasted potential, living with these traitors."_ It whispered into his ears from afar.

" _Had you not been so easily swayed by the Commanders lies, we would all be in harmony."_

A trooper here, a MEC there, the human and the viper pushed forwards, determined to silence these poisonous thoughts. They didn't even realise that they had left Phoebe and the others behind, from afar, they looked like two people out for a death wish, determined to take on the Elder alone.

Luc realised the shield was but a part of the Elder's mind, he just needed to collapse it. He closed his eyes, and pushed his mind out to the Elder. It felt like slamming his head into a brick wall, over and over again, he would imagine this is what most people would do if they couldn't handle all these whispers in their heads, someone less sane.

Ten meters.

It desperately fought back against Ana's beams and Luc's mental onslaught. It fell to its knees and brought up its hands in a desperate attempt as a shield. Everything around them seemed to become still, no trooper fired at them, no alien came to help there now soon to be dead leader, it was as if they were no longer a part of this world. Luc and Ana slowly approached the crimpled form of the Elder, almost swallowed up by the blood red flower bed beneath them.

They had entered its shield, as if they had walked straight into its own little slice of reality.

" _You both leave a trail of death behind you. A2…whose blood must you spill to satisfy your cause?"_

Luc raised his rifle with both hands. But before he could pull the trigger, small purple lines extruded out of the sides of his eyes, they were only small, but it lined his outer vision, making him blink in confusion for a moment.

Perhaps he was too harsh on this poor old Elder, the frail thing was only doing its job. He made a blank yet depressed look on his face, it was just another being, it was just like him, fighting for what it believed in, it deserved another chance.

"Yours, and that's _Ana_ to you." said Ana. She fired once, and the Elder went limp, it seemed to shrivel like a dying weed, it shrunk into half its original size, then seemed to blanket the flower bed beneath it. Luc holstered his alien amplifier and looked around him. Time was back to normal, they stood behind the ADVENT ranks, looking quite ridiculous, Ana fired four more times towards the UFO. The disruptor was pulsing its deadly electronic waves, but she silenced it, and it exploded in half, taking a chunk of the UFO with it.

"Run." he said blankly. She didn't need asking twice, they went full speed down the hill slope. They passed a trooper firing down at the Avenger, as Luc passed it, it gave a look of surprise at the human that ran from behind it. Before it could adjust its aim, Ana was passing it, smashing its head with the butt of her rifle as she did so.

But her choice of attack was poor, it dropped unconscious, and fired off its entire clip of ammo into the ground.

The ground her tail was located.

She hissed in great pain, and doubled over into the knee high roses. Luc heard and felt her distress, stopping momentarily in the centre of no man's land. He searched frantically, whipping his head back and forth to find her. He saw a long shape in the flowers, as if someone was lying there, he ran _back_ into the fray.

Meanwhile the rest of XCOM where falling back into the ramp area. Vipers slithered, Mutons stomped, and Ranger-2 had flown towards the front of the ship, as it took heavy damage.

"Ana!" Luc dropped to all fours to shield himself from view. "Don't worry you're going to be…oh."

"What?" she wheezed.

He made a pained sound, almost like a human version of a hiss, yet he wasn't in pain, he just saw the great wound that had punched through her tail armour. It was much like a tube, he could see the grass underneath it, the bits of yellow blood crawled out…

"Stop thinking about it and tell me! How bad is it?"

"Not too bad…"

"You're not a good liar."

He sighed. "Come on." He lifted one of her arms around his neck, and heaved her up on his right side. His hip was tempting to buckle, but he did not give in as he hoisted her up off the ground.

One bullet to the back, that didn't stop him.

"Luc..what're you…"

She was limply dragging her tail along, he crouched down and picked it up, ignoring the pain. He wrapped it around himself like a towel. She clutched his shoulders with both hands, holding on with an insanely tight grip as he jogged down the hill.

Although his fellow operatives covered him well, his back was peppered with bullets, each hit made the feeling of falling down all the more tempting.

But he didn't care one bit when four more shots hit him from behind.

Phoebe was behind a barrier, waving him over, as if that would speed things along. He made it to the base of the ramp, with only five shots into his back. He slumped down next to the wall, sliding Ana off of him as he did so. He clutched his back with one hand, gasping in pain.

He rested his free hand on one of hers, comforting her with kind thoughts, he only just realised that they were the last ones to get back on board when Central's voice came over all of them.

"Everyone is ready! Avenger and the Ranger's, Let's pull out!"

The turrets were left behind to deal with the oncoming ADVENT waves, he saw dozens of transports inbound on them, on the platform they stood upon was at least thirty humans and aliens, crouched down as the ramp was still being fired at even as they were being lifted off the ground.

He looked back down towards Ana, she was alive, he felt so glad that she was. He remembered the feeling he had when she fell. It felt as if _he_ was shot as well, then again, he actually _was_ shot.

Next thing he knew, a sharp pain lashed out across his mind, it was the psionic equivalent of a slap across the face.

"You shouldn't have left Luc." she said in slight anger, but she still clutched his hand firmly.

"Oh Ana, what would you do without me?" he said smugly, receiving another wave of pain across him, it didn't hurt that much, but he got the point. The Avenger began to power up its thrusters.

Suddenly something long and wet draped across his neck and wrapped across his waist, like a lasso was casted over him. It tugged at him from down below (the ramp lifted about ten meters now) and pulled him against the barrier.

Ana held him, stopping him from falling, Phoebe was also holding him in place, but the Vipers tongue was stronger than both of them. All what happened next went only for a few seconds, not enough time for anyone to fire, as the ramp was coming to a close.

He saw Ana give a terrified look, eyes wide, almost pleading him to stay. Before he could be pulled off the ramp, he gave one last smile as he looked at her.

"Go then, keep your promise."

He let go of her hand, her grip loosened, and he fell backwards off the barrier. He landed not so gracefully onto the tough ground on his side, his _good_ side. His bones should have broken, but they didn't.

There were four troopers waiting for him on the ground, they lifted their feet, and brought them down on him. They curb stomped him over and over again. He could just see the Avenger bay disappearing from view, with Ana along with it.

"Stop the ramp!" she cried as Luc fell. "Stop it!"

The Avenger was already lifting off.

She tried to clamber out off the ramp after him, but she was to weak, her strength started to fail, it was futile anyway, the ramp had already closed leaving her in cold darkness, and the ship was already high in the air, she could feel the pain of each kick against Luc's body, she winced with every ounce of pain they shared.

It reminded her so much of when they first met, only this time, she wasn't there to stop it.


	17. Chapter 17

_Anyone else would have died outright._

How he wished he was right now.

Luc shielded his face with his arms, what little it did. Why hadn't they just shot him already? They kicked him relentlessly with metallic boots, each hit was like a small knife stabbing into his body. He felt the minds of Ana and the rest of XCOM slip away from where he lay.

Even as he was surrounded by alien hybrids, he never felt more alone than now.

Eventually he stopped trying to shield himself from the pain, he simply laid his arms to his sides as he took each hit and kick against him, he couldn't bear the strength to even lift his eyes anymore. If they were tasked to beat him into submission, then it worked.

One nasty kick landed on the side of his right eye, blurring his vision, another slammed into his lower jaw, and Luc started to dribble small droplets of red blood onto the ground.

He held back gasps of pain through a closed mouth, making wheezing and choking sounds as they broke his body, making small cracking sounds like crushed biscuits.

Luc curled into a small ball, soon his muscles on his legs and arms began to tighten like sailors knots, and soon the pain slowly left him, the cold clammy boots replaced the pain with a long unpleasant sense of coldness.

Luc wouldn't stoop so low as to make any noise, he would spare them the pleasure. He counted each blow, each strike. About twenty now, maybe thirty, but that didn't matter. Because when he heard a voice as calm as a flowing river, he gained back his hopes. Had Ana come back? The soft tone, the compassion in the notes of its voice, it had to be her.

" **Teli na fel."** The voice came from behind him, but he couldn't gain the effort to look up at the speaker. But after it spoke, the assault had stopped, and the hands and feet retreated from him

It spoke in an odd language, and the troopers that had just been hurting him talked back, they seemed agitated, he could barely make out what they were saying.

' _Why did you interrupt us then?'_ One of the troopers said.

He longed for the med bay, the silky white bed felt so welcoming now. The quiet nights and the rest, it was like sweet thoughts in a dream.

But he threw it all away in his stubbornness.

New Isa seemed so far away, the utopia he left behind.

He was pulled to his feet by a scaly hand. He hunched over and clutched his face before looking to the hands owner, a Viper, yellow just like the clones, it wasn't Ana, XCOM had not come back.

" **Sesma vis.** " it said to his face.

Where had he heard that before?

It was clutching at his arm like an eagle would its prey, backed up by three other yellow Vipers, the one holding him must have been in charge, as it kept on talking to the troopers, but the other three just kept staring at him, as if he was an alien.

Technically, he was.

The one in charge had let go of him, tapped his shoulder with her rifle, and pointed to a dropship, not just any dropship, this one was slightly more brighter than the rest. A tinge of white coated the usual midnight colour.

He walked over to it in defeat, head drooped low. He clambered aboard and turned around. The troopers did not follow, but the Vipers did, they slithered aboard and stood at full height. No restraints, no threats, no more pain, they lifted off without so much as a hiss.

They stood around him with lowered guns, eyeing him as if he wasn't really there, like he was not a threat.

He asked them why they were staring at him in that way.

They looked at each other, as if asking _'What the hell does that mean?'_ , and after a long minute, they looked back to him, and…

And said nothing, thought nothing, did nothing.

He turned and walked a few paces into the corner of the dropship, sat himself down, knees bent in front of him, and rested his arms on his legs. He scanned the room and saw an odd sight.

No one else, nothing but Vipers, coiled down on seats, or standing up, all of them were the same yellow colours, but they all gave him the same blank look. Luc didn't fight his eyes as they slowly shut on themselves, and he slept through the trip to who knows where.

-XXX-

 _Luc sat across a large grey table, opposite him was a rather unique looking Viper, it was laughing, and so was he._

An odd feeling of presence woke him. Slowly he opened his eyes, two slitted red ones looked back at him. Luc slowly drew back his head from the Viper.

"What?"

The Viper didn't move.

Luc scanned the ship once more, no one had even moved from the last time he saw them.

"What?" he said slightly louder, so all could hear him.

Not a sound.

The dropship began to slow down, the front of the ship lifted up as it set down on level ground. The Vipers stood and exited one at a time. Leaving him and two Vipers that stood behind him, waiting for him to exit, so he sat up and left through the side of the dropship, following what the others had done.

They had landed on top of a large office building, it was the highest building in the whole city they had landed in, the other buildings down below were only half the size of this one. As Luc peered over the edge, he could guess the office was about a hundred stories high. He whipped his head away from the view below before he could think about the fall down too much. He was escorted down a long metal walkway into the depths of the roof.

He was shown to a room, just one of the many down a long white corridor. The door was locked behind him, and he was left alone in this very well kept cell.

It wasn't really a cell, more like a small apartment, white bedroom in one corner, white bathroom in the other (filled with well kept t-shirts and jeans, which he put on, a Viper came in and took his armour), the only thing not painted white was a large grey table, with two chairs on opposite sides. He examined them like a paranoid detective, who was the other seat for? Who would want him alive? Certainly not ADVENT, they would rather have him killed, something else was at play here.

He walked back into the bathroom, taking a long look at himself in the mirror, arms pressed against the sink. The troopers did a good number on him, black right eye, bloodshot left, scar splitting down the side of his right temple.

But through all this, some people were worse off than him, at least his arm hadn't been split off.

 _At least you got a cool looking scar._ He thought as he dabbed the wound with a finger he covered in water.

One minds presence was outside the door, he presumed this to be the guard, but apart from that, he was alone for some time. He tried communicating with the mind, but it blocked him out, so he sat on the bed and waited. His armour had been taken, yet they never touched his medallion that now swung freely around his neck. Surely it must have caught their attention, it was in there image after all.

After a while of aimless wandering in his mind, a new presence was approaching. This one was similar to the guards, but at a much larger scale. A feeling of mass, and incredible psionic power, was coming his way.

He braced himself, by sitting down and waiting, he couldn't do anything else. Small chatter could be heard in the same language the Viper from before was using, and it continued until the door was opened and the figure made itself seen. It spoke fast, and was clearly in a bad mood.

" **Til nes fo san fa...** "

It opened the door, and stared at the thing on his neck, it lost all of its hostility after that moment. (And spoke English)

"Do you like it?" it asked in a commanding tone.

It was just as tall as the Viper King, same colour's as well. It had to duck its head as it entered through the doorway and closed the entrance behind it. It once again faced him in its intimidating demeanour.

"Yeah."

"Good. A thief always praises his spoils."

"Thief?" he questioned.

It slithered over towards the table, and took a seat the furthest away from him. The scales seemed to reflect the light coming from the light of the roof, it was quite ominous, reminding him of the moon. It waves a hand towards the other chair, slowly but surely, he walks over and sits down. It grasps its hands together as it leaned in towards him.

"Tell me, how did you get that?"

"Well these troopers were kicking me so much that it just..."

"No! The medallion!"

"Oh, well, it's a long story,"

"Then tell me, every, last, detail."

And so he talked, and Luc gave his tale of how he came across Ana, and how she helped him escape the city. He failed to realise that he had called Ana 'Ana' and not her actual designation 'A2'.

The Viper didn't interrupt, only at the end did she speak. "Who is Ana?"

"The one who gave me this." He points to the medallion which he had placed on the table. Normally it would have burned him, but now it wasn't.

"You mean, A2?"

"That's not her name."

The Viper had leant back in the chair, contemplating on his words. She detected no lies, but she still had doubts, this human was unlike any other.

"So," she said in a slightly accusing tone. "you destroyed A2's home?"

"No, I destroyed the clinic. I…"

" _Helped_ destroy her home."

He said nothing.

"Where is she?"

"Aboard the…" Luc stopped talking. What was he doing? Willingly giving the enemy information about him. He hadn't even realised until now, perhaps she was playing mind tricks on him.

"Aboard the what?" it asked.

"Who are you?" he said instead.

She smiled, a weird, almost too friendly smile. It showed him two great white deadly fangs, he shivered at the sight.

"I'm the Angelko Queen, Luc."

Luc tried not to show off his surprise, but couldn't help but widen his eyes, Ana mentioned the Queen a few times, but that wasn't what confused him, he never mentioned his name at all.

"Ana told me about you." Luc said.

"How much was that?"

"Not a lot."

"Then allow me, my son."

She stood up and paced around the table, like the old 'good cop bad cop' routine, talking while she slithered in great circles, sometimes stopping directly behind him before continuing on.

"I am the Queen, and you need to know.."

"Son?" he interrupted.

"No."

"Oh."

"It's just a way I speak…"

"Yeah, yeah…please continue." he said with stuttering respect.

She straitened herself up, and continued pacing.

"I rule on my own, my _King_ isn't on this planet, he's currently hibernating off world, but that's not important. What is important is that our children are few, we are almost less than a dozen or so, the only Angleko family to not be cloned into mindless obedient servants to the Ethereal's."

"So is Ana…"

"Don't interrupt." she said as she passed behind him. "There were more families, non-clones, but now we are all that's left." She had now stopped behind her chair, arms placed on the back support.

"So your species _is_ dying?"

"Did A2 tell you that?"

"Something of the sort."

"That's only the half of it. The males are almost unnecessary for reproduction to an extent. I believe you humans have a similar situation, don't you? But it doesn't matter if there are a hundred males or a thousand, only a few females can reproduce, I for one am one of those few. But now it has all changed."

Luc listened intently, leaning his head forward as if to help him hear properly.

"Now, I am infertile. It happens to every chosen Angelko, long into their lives."

Luc knew what she was getting at, but the Queen continued anyway.

"You see, A2.."

" _Ana."_

" _Ana,_ is my first born, _she_ is the next, she may even be the last."

Now the Queen came up next to him, and moved her head towards his ear, flexing her hood as she did so, now she sounded slightly threatening.

"So tell me, where is… _Ana_?"

"She's?…"

"Royalty, yes. I had her hidden from the Ethereal's, only one of them wanted her, and I hid her from him."

 _Well, this complicates things._

"She's with us, with XCOM, on board the Avenger, she fights alongside us. We found her in east India, and she and her friends fight ADVENT ever since."

Now the Queen looked shocked. "You don't realise what you've done! The Elder, he will be after her, he wants her to breed like some animal! Your friends don't stand a chance if he…"

"He's dead."

Now she was silent.

"Ana killed him."

A small smile painted her lips, she turned and sat down on her chair again. "I don't think you're lying. Where's the... _Avenger_ now?"

"Sorry ma'am, I can't tell you that, _you_ captured me. Remember?"

"My clones caught wind of her scent, you just got in the way."

Luc shook his head. Would those troopers have beaten her instead? He couldn't think about that right now, she was fine, she got away.

"Hmmm…well, how's A2?" The Queen inquired with one hand on her 'chin'.

"She is...fine. Well, I think she is."

"Well, she'll need to come back to me, since this Ethereal is dead, she can be with me once more, perhaps she can find a suitable mate, start the species up again on _our_ terms…"

"That might have some...complications." Luc interrupted on the fly.

She gave him a questioning look, asking him what he meant through her strange alien eyes.

"I'm going to tell you something, you don't want to hear."

She nods towards him, beckoning him to continue.

"I'm...I'm in love with her."

The Queen gave that same laugh that Ana did, the machine gun sound. The same tone and all, she kept making quick _hith hith hith_ sounds.

"Yeah, heh, funny thing huh?" Luc said, smiling.

 _Hith hith hith hith hith_

Luc laughed along with her.

 _Heh, heh heh heh heh_

 _Hith hith hith hith_

This went on for a few moments, then Luc snapped out of it.

"But seriously, I do."

"Put on the medallion."

He did so.

She sat there, now she knew he wasn't lying or joking. He was thinking about her, both physically and mentally. The curvy 'hips', the long flexible muscles of her tail, the pristine and deadly body. The kind but fierce eyes, the way she moved always with grace…

"OK, stop." the Queen said in an almost embarrassed manner, blocking out Luc's imagery.

"I can't help it." he said as he took off the medallion and held it up. "How does this thing work? I get visions, Ana said its only for your kind, why does it affect me?"

"I…I don't know. There's something inside you, something…it's hard to explain. I guess maybe it _does_ affect humans."

"You don't even know what your own trinkets do?"

"My what?"

"Never mind."

"Your seriously jesting me aren't you?"

…

"You can't love her!" she said like an overprotective mother

"Why not?"

"Let me think." The Queen said sarcastically. "How about that you're a human?"

"So?"

Now she was frustrated, she would open her mouth to oppose him, but stop herself. So she decided to switch up her approach.

"Have you told her that you do?"

"Not necessarily…"

"Well, you're doing a fine job in being a possible candidate."

"Candidate? She's not some prize, she a living being, let _her_ decide."

"She doesn't even need a male, there are other ways, she can live on with me, she needs to know a lot of things."

He didn't respond, he looked upon himself, surely that night on his birthday wasn't just the alcohol? There could be something more to them.

"Do you even know how to mate?"

Luc put one hand on his temple. "I don't really want to have this conversation."

"Have you mated with a human?"

"Well, no…"

"Had a stable relationship?"

"Ah, no but..."

"Any female that is the least bit interested in you?"

"I can't say for them but…"

"But you _can_ for Ana?"

" _Can you let me speak!?"_

Luc had slammed the table with balled fists, standing up as he did so. But he didn't just shout at her, he brought those words into the loudest thoughts, and sent them to her.

"I love her, I realise that I loved her since the first time I laid eyes on her. Whenever I'm not around her, I feel more alone than anyone ever could." He takes a breath. "I realise that now, the moment she leaves, I don't think I can go on, no one has treated me the way she does, she's everything I ever wanted, and I _don't_ care what race she is. I love her the way she is, she's more _human_ than I am."

Luc gives off a short gasp of laughter and almost muttered what he said next. "She's the only thing keeping me sane at this point."

The Queen sat quietly for some time, neither commenting or showing off any signs of emotions. She eventually got out of her chair and pushed it back into place. The Queen made her way back to the door of the room, but before she could close it, Luc made one last plea towards the Viper Queen.

"You have to let me go!"

But the way to the outside was closed, and all nearby minds left him. He was alone again.

-XXX-

Ana watched on as the second final frame of the fallen XCOM soldier was pasted on the wall. An unknown Lieutenant to her, but a loss all the same. Central had the honours of doing this, although he hated doing it, it was his job. But it wasn't just humans who were on the wall, Angleko and Muton alike were given a name and a death date, not much else, but it was still a moral thing for the humans to do.

Twelve beings, fighting alongside to save a ship, had met there ends yesterday. Even though there were thirteen framed faces, Ana only wanted twelve to be real.

Central held up the last frame, the white haired individual between his hands stared an emotionless stare back at him. He used his thumb to wipe away the epitaph area, still blank from the lack of a volunteer to speak for the dead.

He turns towards Ana, who was no longer at her full height.

"Ana…you..."

"He's not dead!" she shouted as she snatched the frame from his hands. She spins and leaves the memorial with unmatched speed, leaving everyone behind to look on at the stubborn Viper.

She made her way to her quarters on the Avenger, a large mattress with a lone pillow lay on the ground, lit up by a lone light source directly above it. Nothing else was in the room as she locked the door behind her and coiled down as into a small ball, making herself as small as possible as she blocked out the world.

She had her head and arms tucked in underneath her tail, and looked at the frame with liquid eyes, she tightened herself as far as she could as she closed her eyes and laid down.

"He's not…"

-XXX-

"My Queen, is he one of us?" one of her guards asked her the next morning.

She had taken solitude in her own throne room in the office building, endlessly thinking of Luc's confessions, now that morning came, her guards had a lot of questions. She barely left the door behind when this one interrupted her pace.

She wasn't a daughter of hers, she just believes she is. This one was merely a clone of someone else, just a mirror of life.

"He has one of our medallions, don't let its tricks fool you."

The clone nods.

"Besides, it's not his, its mine."

The Queen left the clone behind as she made her way up the twirling stairs to the top level, she passed limitless rooms of the same designs. Some filled with her staff, but the majority were keeping an eye on her. Elders orders, she was to be watched for a long time, and now that the Elder is dead, that time may not have an end.

She was a prisoner, just like Luc was.

The one way mirror into Luc's cell was an ominous sight for her. It was quite early, she didn't think Luc would be awake at this time. But there he was, sat cross legged in front of the wall. On his side it was a wall, but he could somehow see through it, staring right at her very eyes. She would move to the right, his eyes followed, she would go to the left, his eyes would follow again. Something was definitely _wrong_ about him.

She grabbed a silver key, turned it in the door and unlocked it, reversing the process when she was inside. While her back was to him, he could make a move to escape, but when she turned around, he was still sat on the floor, eyes now closed and facing forward, not a care in the world.

Luc found the medallion was not burning him for some time, and he was able to take it off and on when in this room, so he had placed it in front of him while he sat there, like someone attempting to praise the gods with an offering.

Luc didn't deserve such a valuable artefact, the Queen moved uninterrupted towards the amulet on the ground. She lowered one hand towards it, intent on claiming it back to her kind.

As soon as her scales made contact with the metal, a loud hissing voice sounded through her head, taunting and threatening her if she continued her plight. She quickly removed her hand back to her side, a short gasp along with it.

"It sounds the exact same as you do, _my Queen._ " Luc commented without opening his eyes. "I'd offer it back to you, but I don't think _it_ wants to."

 _Everyone has their reasons._ She thought as she looked at her scaly hand in wonder.

 _That we do._ Luc replied to her mind. _But you don't know what 'it's' is._

True she did not, the medallion pulsated at the same moment she thought about it. Its creation was for A2, not for Luc, not for a human, yet here it was, denying its Queen's touch.

As if to mock her, Luc slipped it back on around his neck, his mind was much more familiar to her. She took the same seat at the table they were at yesterday.

"No other human is like you, you have the gift, how is this?"

"Look for yourself, I don't even know."

He flooded her mind with his memories, it was like a sheet of paper sliding through a scanner, but someone had shot bullets through it, one memory he was normal, the next he was not.

But Luc pushed further, now his emotions fell into her mind like water down a drain. Her chest expanded with a deep longing breath, she felt like she was breathing enough air to fill a world. To have someone care for another being this much, was unremarkable, unthinkable.

Luc wondered why he didn't just do this in the first place.

Luc went on for minute before let her go, her eyes were wide, filled with wonder. She took a minute to calm down before speaking again.

Luc failed to realise he went too far.

"You…"

As quick as lightning, she got out of the seat, and went out the door, locking it as she did so. She disappeared into the depths of the building, out of range of Luc's psionic reach.

Luc shrugged to himself, and sat back down on the floor, and closed his eyes.

-XXX-

Eight days, eight long days Luc sat in that cell, the Queen was very far away, and anyone who was in range couldn't hear him. Perhaps they had developed mindshield capabilities as well. He had been mentally cut off from anyone and everyone.

 _Talk about the worst place for anxiety._

The Queen hovered a finger over the 'confirm' button on her personal terminal. The sheer amount of consequences that would affect the whole planet hinged on just the slightest of movements of her hand.

Luc's whole experience had flashed into her mind, there was no deceit in it, he was dangerous, and full of something beyond her understanding.

She could not be with him when the Elders come looking for him. He had to be gone, lest she be once again on the run, her daughters along with her. It was A2… _Ana's…_ only hope of staying safe, no one would know of her importance to the race.

She hits the button.

She revealed a small plasma pistol below her other hand, making sure it was loaded.

She made her way back to Luc, gun ready to fire.

 _This is for your own good, Ana._


	18. Chapter 18

The late night brought low hanging clouds that swallowed the many skyscrapers whole. The stars were pale and silent, twinkling there great gleams over the great city. Yet only one building stood above the clouds grey blanket, like a jagged rock in a flat desert. Said building had hundreds of lights that shown through the many windows, with the occasional figure passing by them.

One figure strode across one of the higher floors, not on two legs, but on one tail. As slow as could be, she came to a stop, and gazed out to the landscape before her. There she stood, still as death, great changes were coming, and she was to start it on this night.

She went on through the halls, she was passed by a pair of her daughters, who rushed on to the highest level, the roof. She would follow them, after a small detour.

Once more she stood in front of _the_ cell, she un-holstered a small plasma pistol from her side belt. Checking the charge once more, she held it behind her back with one hand before proceeding inside. There was her prisoner, Luc. The one to love her daughter, her first-born. He was stood facing the door, he probably already knew her intent before she even walked in.

He eyed her wearily, as if he knew this visit wouldn't be like the others, she stood still in the doorway, not moving a muscle.

"I guess…you've made up your mind, then?" Luc said slowly.

"I have."

Luc had thrown away the wrappings on his arms to the floor nearby. His face had healed slightly, but was still moderately bruised. He readjusted himself, standing slightly higher.

"A piece of advice, if you want to listen."

The Queen nods.

"Ana is the best fighter I've witnessed, you shouldn't have kept her away for so long, you could've fought the Elders, perhaps alongside us. We wouldn't even be talking right now if you had. And you would be by your families side."

"What would you have done?" she wailed. "If _your_ species was becoming mindless beasts, and the only family left only has one reproducer that happens along every fifty years? And you didn't _have_ time to wait? And you were stuck hiding them while your mate does nothing!"

He couldn't really blame her, what would he have done? He couldn't answer that. After a moment, and out of the blue, Luc asked how old Ana was.

"Earth wise? About mid thirties, your equivalent of maturity."

 _Not bad, Luc._

"Why are you here? Why not go back to your home world?" Luc asked.

"Our planet is dead. Nothing but fire, sand and ash. The Ethereal's gave us the opportunity to travel away from there, and like all the others, we never returned."

"It seems that all of us _are_ mindless beasts, thanks to the Elders." he added in.

This reminded the Queen of that odd presence within Luc. It reminded her so much of an Ethereal, the psionic potential, and the hidden wisdom behind those magenta eyes. How had he come to be like this? Why was he the only human she had ever seen embrace the 'gift'?

Luc had turned away from her, looking down in deep thought. "Before we go on, you have to think about what Ana would think of this. Your last hope for your species, how would she feel about your actions?"

"Don't…"

"Don't what?" he asked, peering over his shoulder. "Don't listen to your daughter for once? Don't ask her what she wanted? Did you ever _ask_ her how she felt about being tucked away, hidden so she could be safe? If it wasn't for _her,_ the Elder would still be searching!"

He closed his eyes after facing her. "If you find her, don't force her to do anything else, don't hide her away, she deserves better than that."

"Tell her I'm sorry."

A thousand thoughts ran through her head in an infinite circuit. She had only thought of her daughters wellbeing, she had given her a codename rather than an actual name like the others, all for her safety, was she being too over protective? She wasn't. It was just a necessity.

Does she even see her as a Queen, a mother, anymore?

Here Luc was, willingly giving his life away to her, and his last plea was for Ana, her daughter.

Seconds felt like minutes, those minutes felt like hours, and she did not fire.

She broke the silence. "I don't plan on killing you today." The Queen extended the gun out to him like an offering. Luc opened his eyes, confused as to what she was implying.

"What…"

"If what you've shown me is true, than you must go back. But you _can't_ let the Ethereal's get a hold of Ana…Or yourself." She looks to the gun. "Do not hesitate."

"You want me to go out, of my own accord?"

"Do you know what they would've done to you if my daughters hadn't got you out of there?"

Luc didn't need to respond, the images of the severed limbs of those patients were a horrifying memory.

"Are you…you gonna come with me?"

"It's truly tempting, but I must see to my family here."

"You don't want to see Ana again?"

"I do, but I believe you can do better at telling her what I couldn't, and I have to assemble my personal forces. My daughters are _all_ in danger now."

"You can help us you know, XCOM can use all the help it can get."

"In time, but not now."

She had sent a message to all Angelko forces in this building to head to the roof, but that wouldn't fool ADVENT for long, she was about to turn and leave when she searched the minds. They still had a fair few to go. She looked back to Luc once more.

"You never…mated, did you say?"

Luc gave a shocked look, as if to say ' _Really? Now?'_

She told him to wait, and left the room with the door ajar. After a few moments, she returned and closed the door, with paper and pen in hand.

"You're not seriously…"

"Unless you want some mental images, you either listen and write."

"Aren't you in a rush?"

"There is time."

So they sat down. Luc had bated breath the entire time. It was like when your parents have 'the talk' when you become a certain age. Only it was from an alien, and your love interests _mother_. Luc would have a constant cringed face as he wrote down what he thought was important. She told him of how Angelko's had the ability to go on without the need for a males fertility, sought of like parthenogenesis, where a small needle is inserted into…Luc blocked that part out. But they needed a male mate for life. So as to have _two_ figures to look up to for the future generations, rather than _one_.

The Queen spat every time the 'King' was mentioned. She made Luc swear that he would do better than 'hibernate' for long periods of time (this King was a bit too much of a 'stay at home dad' Luc mentally thought).

Pre-courting, post-courting, areas of sensitivity… Signs of…

"OK, I've had enough." Luc said as he bundled some of his 'note's and placed them into his pocket in his pants, and tossing the pen onto the table.

"Would you like me to go through the…"

"No!" he interrupted.

"Any questions?"

"No."

"Did you draw diagrams, and get down the part with the tail and the…" The Queen saw one of his pages he hadn't taken yet, and shook her head. "No, no its like this.." She picked up the pen and made some…'adjustments'.

"Why are you even doing this?" Luc asked, with his face slightly burning.

"Because your clueless about everything. And I'm not letting some random guy take her side without preparations." she said without looking up.

"Seriously? This is just so…I mean…I can't even comprehend what's happening now."

She finished up a moment later, and handed the papers to him, he folded them up and put them with the others, he would look at them later.

"Besides…a father needs to know this stuff." she said after some silence.

Luc's jaw may as well have fallen off. "W-What?"

"She's the races last hope, and according to your feelings, and if you _really_ want to pursue her, you've already accepted this position."

"But, I'm human! I can't be a..a.."

"King?" she finished for him.

"Yes…no!"

"It will be different, but it's nothing we can't work around. But don't think about that now, if this war ends with you two intact, then we can talk more."

Luc couldn't believe this. He only murdered another King not too long ago (which he failed to mention) and now he was to become one. But the Queen was right in her mad ways, _don't think about that now._

"My family here is just about evacuated, but you must stay. If they see us together, our alliance is compromised, my family finished. I sent out a signal, your friends should come soon."

Luc nods in understanding. The Queen returns her own, and proceeds to the doorway, two Angelko's awaited in the corridor, ever vigilant of any intruders. Just as the queen was about to leave, she turns back to Luc one last time.

"Take the elevator to the top, it will help you, open it with this." She hands him a small chip, with yellow teeth on the side, no bigger than a fingernail. He pockets it.

She left him, and tossed the key to his feet before closing the door.

Luc sat down on the grey table, legs dangling slightly off the ground. Pistol in one hand, the key in the other. He did nothing but wait, the Queens mind left for the floors above him, until it was out of range.

Luc was happy, but mostly terrified of the future.

-XXX-

"Commander, we got a distress beacon coming in from Italy, unknown origin."

She walked up to the globe, a yellow blip was pinging nearby Rome every few seconds, almost like a submarines sonar.

"There's something else as well, a message."

"What is it, Central?"

"'…'L'…"

"Get me a layout of the area."

The globe was replaced with a top-down view of the city centre, not in the 3D view, but like a map from the old days. The ping was now in a large square building. One of the technicians said it came from the higher floors of the buildings, and Ranger-2 can get on the roof with ease, as long as only a small team was sent in.

"Prep for deployment, and get us over there."

-XXX-

 _Hey Luc, your gonna help an alien raise an entire race from extinction! I have to go now!_

That was how Luc summed up his conversation with the Queen.

Sectoid's passed his cell while he waited. They acted like mental guards, open to all thoughts, Luc strained himself to quiet his psionic presence.

He nearly jumped with excitement when he finally felt familiar presences. The minds of Kurt, Phoebe and Ana, somewhere above him, perhaps they had landed in one of the alien Rangers, as the whole building should have been alerted now.

 _Time to go._ He thought as he picked himself up. He waited until the aliens passed before he slowly unlocked the door and peered out to the corridor. He glanced left, the way the Sectoid's went, to the right were two branching paths, this was the way he came from. Doing one last check, he tossed the key inside the cell and closed it off. He stabilised his pistol with both hands, and proceeded down the branching paths, then going left.

Luc felt like he was going down a circus house, he was glancing left and right, trying to predict when the next odd looking figure would jump out at him and scream or shout. But the air was still, only his light footsteps were heard, they echoed along as if there were several of him. But it was just him, alone for now, with numerous aliens in the halls nearby. Using his mentality, he knew when to duck left, go right, or just wait for the aliens to pass.

He looked as if taking orders from some sort of hidden listening device.

On his sides were numerous cells similar to his won, they housed all sorts of weird and wonderful things through one sided windows. Spotting odd shapes and objects as if he was in a gallery of alien art. One room had a lean figure wearing a grey fur coat, standing heroically with a silver sword in (her?) hand. But it didn't even flinch, its face concealed by a dark fur hood, still as a statue.

Another window, this one had two small benches like the ones in gene clinics. One had the body of a small pale man, no older than eighteen, the other had a large ape-like creature with light brown fur, and wore what looked like power armour, it was so huge and built up that it would put even a Muton to shame.

As he came up to a third door, around the end of the corridor he heard footsteps and thuds. He was about to turn back when he felt the Sectoid's approaching as well. So he slid the door out of its closed position and slipped inside.

Darkness consumed him like fog as he locked the metallic door from the inside, he waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, which was only barely lit up from the window next to him. He soon made out several odd light bulb shapes coming from three rows, they looked like small airport runway lights, next to them were a whole bunch of glass boxes. He walked over to get a better look.

He squatted down and peered inside a random glass box. Small squiggly lines twisted and turned very slowly within. Some were thick, others were thin.

Luc had a feeling of a presence beside him, he turned just in time to see a fist slam into his chin. It knocked him so hard he slammed his face into the glass he was a few inches away from. He got a few small cuts, but it wasn't as bad as the _Muton's_ fist.

Whatever was in the box, it crawled over his body the moment it had the chance. The Muton was grabbing his leg with a crushing grip, but it let go and roared in pain. Luc took a few moments before managing to sit up and peer around him.

He had set off a domino effect, all the glass in the room began to shatter, the box he hits toppled onto the next, and so on and so forth. And more and more things began crawling onto the carpeted ground.

The roar of the Muton attracted the attention of the aliens outside, one, two, three Sectoid's had begun pounding at the door, backed up by two Mutons as well. Luc looked back at the roaring Muton, it had began wheezing in pain now. Luc sat up, but stopped himself when he felt a heavy weight on his lap.

As he looked down at it, he realised it wasn't some off world creature, but an earthen reptile, a cobra, no more than the length of a ruler, covered in a black coat with only two bright white eyes illuminating its gaze.

The cobra looked at him with curiosity as he picked up his fallen pistol.

The Muton was covered in similar snakes of many colours, pythons, boas, rattlesnakes, almost every single kind covered the ground. He literally was in a pit of snakes, and the Muton had the worst of it, swallowed up by a blanket of hungry creatures.

The Muton was nothing but a mangled corpse in a few seconds, perhaps hundreds of snakes had coated its body, tearing into its flesh and face, Luc could see small grey parts being exposed under its arms, was that bone? He looked away and calmed his breath, not wanting to piss off the devouring snakes, or grab their attention.

Slowly raising to his feet, eyes locked on the lapped cobra, he gained to his full height without interruption, other than the pounding of the door. The black cobra slid off of him while keeping its gaze, as if stalking its prey.

Luc spied a window on the far wall, being careful not to step on the deadly animals below him, he made his way over as slow as a turtle. On the fourth step, he landed his foot on a large python, completely yellow, it made a low hiss, but made no move against him. Luc slowed his heart down, perhaps they were friendly?

He passed the mutilated Muton…Perhaps not.

Maybe he was a snake whisperer.

 _Are those even real?_

With each step, the door he came from was bent inwards from the many punches against it, the Muton and its pals continued to pound, he had little time.

Without any more incidents, he got up against the window, outside was a large ledge, going both ways and big enough to stand on. He used the hilt of his pistol and hit the glass with as much force as he could. Once, twice, it only cracked a few times, giving it the look of a spiders web around the centre, so miniscule that even he had trouble noticing it.

The door was about to fall off its hinges.

He lined up his pistol to the plane, perhaps a few shots would be enough to crack open his escape. He was about to squeeze the trigger, when an unknown force stopped him.

 _The latch._

A small lock, at the centre of the bottom.

 _Idiot._

Loosening the latch, he opened it up, and the torrential wind seeped into the snake room

Luc pulled one leg after the other, and eventually stood on the edge. He turned to close the window when the same cobra that had been on his lap was now perched on the window like a bird, gazing endlessly at him.

"Go away." He half yelled over the wind.

It tilted its head like a dog.

 _Go away._ Luc said Psionically.

Its black head seemed to droop, it reclined back enough for the window to shut properly. It looked out to him like some prisoner that just missed the clutch of freedom. Luc almost pitied the cobra, it was just some test subject, residing within some building in who knows where.

Perhaps he could take it under his wing, show Ana what a snake really _did_ look like.

Perhaps a pet…how ironic.

He closed the window, without a snake in hand.

He chose randomly and went to the right, shuffling along with his back to the white wall as fast as he could. When he was about ten meters along, the buildings corner presented itself, he slipped around it, not looking back to the window he came through. The aliens were in the room, hopefully they won't notice the unlocked window.

Along the way, the high winds tempted his body to topple over down the long drop. Below him was the blanket cloud, he felt that falling would be an endless voyage, it looked as if the void itself was just a step in the wrong direction.

The blistering winds tugged at his clothes, however his outgrown crew cut (about the length of a pinkie finger) stayed still, as if he had applied a thousand pounds of gel into it.

He felt the minds of his allies, now slightly closer, he wanted to cry out to them, tell them he was stuck out here on the wrong side of the walls, but he didn't want to be discovered out here, he'd be a sitting duck.

Then again, they probably knew he was out here. So he took the next window to get out of the cold wind. There was one that was slightly open, so he took that one. Slipping in like someone out of a spy movie, reversing the escape process as he did so.

Perhaps he should've checked inside first before going in.

It was a small office, two chairs, one desk, one cabinet, all of it a pale white. And sitting on the far chair, perhaps ready for an interview, sat a lone Sectoid. Its black eyes watched him with a hint of gladness.

It did an odd smile, baring plenty of white fangs, and waved at him.

 _This guy again?_

It kept its thoughts hidden, and didn't reveal him, it just sat there. Luc gave a nod and an awkward smile as he passed it and went for the door. The outside was clear, he turned back to the alien in the room, it had a long red scar down the back of its head, and it sat in the stool without looking at him.

"Good luck." Luc said. He didn't know why he said that, perhaps the alien was applying for an office job, he thought about a Sectoid becoming the best damn accountant in the world, or maybe a lawyer.

In quick succession, it turned its head and nodded rapidly, as if signalling him to quickly leave. Luc did so, and found himself in the corridors again. With swift feet, he went to the elevator he had come down from the first time he came.

It seemed his allies had taken the stairs, they were on the floor above.

No alarms yet, they were all undetected.

More rooms with alien experiments lined his sides, but he paid no attention, he was focused, he had to leave. His allies were directly above him, the floors above must be identical, as they took the same directions that his floor took.

He came upon an elevator, it was shut tight. Beside it was a set of stairs. He folded his arms and looked at the stairs, trying to look as cool as possible.

They came into view, guns trained on him, but were lowered a second later.

"Luc!"

Phoebe had been about to hug him, but stopped herself. "You look terrible!" she said with a look of disgust.

"Worse then what you normally look like." Kurt commented from behind her.

"Thanks, guys. Took you long enough." Luc said sarcastically.

Now Ana made herself apparent. She gave that warm smile the moment he saw her, it felt like ages since he'd seen that. She approached him slowly, cautiously. He had a lot to tell her.

"Come on, ADVENT will…" Kurt started, but alarms started to blare. They all started up the stairs when Luc stopped.

"Luc?" Ana asked.

He remembered the chip, pulling it out and going to the locked elevator, there was a metal panel with what looked like a slot, but with the button missing. He placed the chip into it, it made a satisfying click and lit up a bright red, he pressed it.

"It will take too long…"

The doors opened.

"Never mind."

They all packed in, it was slightly to small for four of them, but they managed. The doors closed and Luc pressed a button marked 'Roof'.

"So, how'd you get in here without being shot down?" Luc asked as they ascended to the heavens.

"The turrets on the roof are offline, you're doing?" Kurt replied.

 _In a way._ Luc thought as he nodded.

"Come on then, what happened to you?" Phoebe asked as she drew her beam pistol and gave it to him.

"Captured by the Viper Queen, helped me escape, gave you guys the beacon to find me." Luc had said in a rushed tone. "Good enough?"

She nodded, almost looking stunned. Before she could open her mouth, he interrupted.

"Question me later, is the Skyranger ready?" Luc wanted to talk, particularly to Ana, but not now, not when they are still in the building.

Kurt brought a finger to his head. "Lots of guys on the roof, should be here in a minute, its Ranger-2 by the way."

Luc brought up his two pistols, one blue, one green, he criss-crossed them as he got on the left side of the door, the others did the same.

The elevator came to a quiet stop a minute later, a small ding sounded off as the doors opened. The roof had the texture of concrete, coated with many boxes Luc presumed to belong to air conditioners, there was also a squad of troopers, guns trained on the staircase twenty meters opposite them.

The ultimate flanking manoeuvre, Luc silently thanked the Queen.

The four of them unloaded out, and fired upon the enemy.

As Luc rushed to the right side, where three helipads were set, he fired one pistol after the other, he looked like a cowboy as he blasted one beam of energy after the other. He had his arms stretched in parallel lines, stiffening them to reduce recoil, he planted three of four shots in two troopers before he squatted behind an air-con unit.

The others were making quick work of the rest. These troops were nothing but grunts, they never stood a chance. Luc spared a glance at Ana as she slithered nearby, her shoulder pads bore the XCOM logo, but beneath that was the symbol of a major, a sword between two wings. This was the case for the other two as well.

 _Not a chance._

A low humming sound forced his gaze to the skies, a dropship, Ranger-2, was on approach.

The stairs were now piling out with more grunts. An easy choke point to slaughter them, but the occasional few managed to get out before any of them could stop them.

Ranger-2 Landed behind them, the side doors opened, revealing Thalia, still holding her canon, perhaps she had never left that position during the week he was gone.

She unloaded on the stairs that came out of the roof which reminded him of a bunkers entrance. She shouted as she did so.

"Move!"

They piled in one after the other, ending with Kurt. Thalia didn't stop firing until they were at least a hundred meters away, flying into the night sky.

"Easy extraction, ADVENT grows weak." Thalia commented.

Truly the Queen pulled many strings to get him out of there.

"Perhaps they had a… change of heart." Luc said as he took a seat.

-XXX-

They pounded him with questions, crowding around him as if he was the coolest kid in school. Ana wanted to talk to him terribly. But she was pushed aside, even by Luc's human friends on the way back to the Avenger, he only mentioned one thing, the word 'Queen'. So she waited, they would talk when they land.

But this wasn't the case, the Commander and Central had taken him and asked him all about his time away. She noticed he kept constantly looking to her before quickly glancing away. Had the Queen told him something about her? Why was he not sending thoughts to her? She couldn't get a word into him as he was escorted to the bridge, and he never responded mentally either.

She was left to her own, she went to her quarters and sat aimlessly. Perhaps he had just lost interest in her. She brought out a green book, and read with a blank expression.

She just had to wait, a week was long, another day shouldn't feel like too much time.

But to her, it was.

-XXX-

"The Queen?" Central repeated for the fifth time.

"Yes, that's how easy it was to escape, she did it."

"Where is she?" The Commander asked behind her desk.

He shook his head.

"Come on Central, we got everything, we can continue later. Get some rest Luc."

They both nodded, Luc was about to follow Central, definitely wanting to get out of _another_ interrogation from _another_ leader. But the Commander stopped him with a call of his name.

"Yes, Commander?"

"I think Ana wants to see you, you might be tired, but…"

It was technically early morning, but Luc wasn't tired, he actually felt rather refreshed (or so his mind told him).

She gave him directions to her new quarters, and he left the Commanders presence. He went back to his psi lab and changed into normal XCOM attire, which was almost identical to what he had gotten in the Queens building, only a dark shape of purple. He was about to through the white pants away when the rustling of paper stopped him. The notes from the Queen.

So he sat on his bed and unrumpled the papers. It wasn't all just how to 'do it'. But how to actually _get_ to that stage, sure he was associated with her, (to put it a light way) but he probably…no, _definitely_ should do this, he just felt that way.

He found the pages the Queen had hastily given him, pictures depicting… _things._ He held the left and right sides of the page, then turned it so he held the top and bottom, then flipped it, then rotated it again.

 _This is seriously one…_ he thought of a word that best described it _…provocative mother in law._

Not that he found the mother attractive, just the way she did… _this._. He could imagine it now, thousands of small mutant Viper babies, would they be half-human? Or just wholly alien? Was a human even compatible with her kind? He probably should have asked the Queen these questions.

But then again, the Queen would've had these thoughts, why didn't she say something?

 _She did say 'father'._

A sudden thought struck him. _Was Neska a family member? She certainly isn't a clone._

Those answers would have to wait for now.

Luc was honest, he sure as hell didn't want to be a King, but the thought of someone else becoming her mate, convinced him otherwise.

 _Maybe it'll be fun!_

The thousand alien babies called out to him in his imagination.

 _Maybe not…_

What the hell was he getting into here?

Probably best _not_ to mention this to anyone outside of Ana, at least, for now.


	19. Chapter 19

He poured over the notes as if it was final exams week.

As if it was his biggest day of his life.

It sure would be.

He stared in the bathroom window across from the psi lab every now and then. Shall he be formal? Patient? Maybe get it out right away? Was there even a 'proper' way to tell someone who they really were?

If _he_ was about to be told he was the last hope for a species, how would he like to be told?

This didn't help, Ana wasn't _human._ She had an entirely different mindset. So he made up about six different ways about how to get it out to her, like battle plans for a big fight.

Was this how the Commander felt as she planned every mission beforehand? Thinking and adapting to any and all possibilities?

 _How the hell does she do it?_

This may not have been a combat situation, but just as tense, in Luc's mind.

The first thing to do was get her something nice. More specifically, it had to be her scale colour.

 _Orange._

What the hell did the Queen mean?

 _Something nice, something to match her scales._

Those words were what the Queen had written down for him.

So what did the King give to her? A nice white fur coat? She could've given him a suggestion.

So what was orange, and was nice? What did Luc think fit the criteria?

The Avenger landed in a forest to do its usual scanning, he came up the ramp with his answer in his hands after an hour of searching nearby the landed ships.

A great marigold, size of his palm.

 _Really Luc?_

The flower was in its prime, bloomed to perfection, at least, in the male humans mind.

What about a female aliens mind? Do aliens have flowers, and think them pretty?

So many questions.

Perhaps old school flowers were the best, simple and sharp. No need for necessities, simple was good.

Right?

How odd the human mind works when it comes to things like this. Luc realised how far Ana was out of his depths. Here he stood, getting odd looks from the other humans, ready to offer an alien princess…

A flower.

The same thought popped into his head a thousand times.

 _Not a ladies' man after all._

The marigold was the perfect shape of vibrancy, of excellence, it matched Ana perfectly in his eyes, reminding him of a low sunset on a warm summer day.

Standing still in the hanger, he finally realised he had idly stared at the flower for about ten minutes. He brushed this off by walking back to his lab. He had requested a table and seats for the mostly empty space, his excuse, was to help 'lighten up the place' and make it feel 'more like a home'.

Request granted, two seats, small table, one couch. The furniture was illuminated by the voids presence in his (still relatively small) cell. Reminding him of a lava lamp as the purple-ness twisted and turned around the room.

Here? Or there?

To request someone presence, _then_ offer them a gift, that's not how he thought to do it. Luc was torn between going to her, or letting him come to her.

He decided on the former.

Hopefully the newly acquired furniture wasn't _too_ much of a waste of time. The Commander was slightly hesitant, and if she found out Luc wasn't really going to use them, she would be _very_ annoyed.

And angry at pretty much anything Luc hadn't mentioned yet.

Clutching the flower to his chest, he made his way to Ana. He wound through the halls and up metal ladders, passing by many of his XCOM fellows. Some stared at his little gift, some asked him outright. His answers were vague, or he didn't reply at all.

After a few minutes, his steps came to a halt at the start of a metallic corridor.

 _Last on the left. That's her room._

As Luc strode over to the door that held Ana within. A feeling of guilt piled up inside him, he hadn't once responded to her many psionic calls she had sent to him, nor had he sent any indication of even noticing her existence. Luc's excuse, to preoccupied with a bombard of questions from the Commander... It was a stupid excuse, and he knew it.

But telling her she was royalty, was something Luc thought he should do face to face.

Now he stood facing the door to her room. He shook his head to clear his mind, and lifted one hand to the surface of the metal.

He knocked two times, and waited.

He heard shuffling.

"Who is it?" her familiar soft voice called out from behind the door.

"It's me."

Silence.

"Can I come in?"

"…OK…"

The door slid open on well oiled hinges, not a sound came from the turning of the unseen mechanics as Ana's figure revealed itself. Her eyes were slightly droopier than her usual self, she looked as if she was just napping.

"Really late at night, Luc."

Mental clock, it was about ten or so.

"Oh, forgot about that. I just…Can I talk to you?"

She let out a sigh, or a yawn. Then she spied the flower in his hands, and gave him a confused look.

Luc looked down. "Ah! This is, it's for you. I…I Hope you like it."

He sounded like a school boy trying to talk to his first crush, pathetic, in his mind. She took it from his outstretched hands, and nodded in appreciation (that's what he thought it was). Luc mentally hit himself. What was he thinking?

She stood to the side and waved one hand inside, he passed her after some hesitation. The inside was mostly barren, save for a lone mattress on the floor that came up to about his mid shin, with three books near its side, stacked neatly on top of each other.

"What are you reading about?"

"What is it you wanted to discuss?" she said, ignoring his question, closing the door and standing behind him.

"I have some things to tell you."

"Why not come to me sooner?"

"I was...busy."

"Yeah?"

Luc said nothing. He reached out a hand to hers, but she backed off. Stunning him.

"Speak."

"Ana, I wasn't ignoring you, I just needed to…"

"Tell everyone else first? Leave me in the dark, after a whole week of you disappearing?"

"It's not like that."

"Of course it isn't….Well, what's so important that you need to tell me, that it took you days to even come up here?"

"Your royalty Ana. You're the next Queen, you are your whole species last chance."

"I don't believe you." she said stubbornly and folding her arms.

"Don't trust me anymore? After such a little thing?"

She didn't reply.

Luc didn't realise he had become slightly hostile to her, his eyebrows were slightly curled inwards, and at this sudden realisation, he backed off, and lightened his face.

"Go on, search my mind. Tell me I'm lying."

So she did, not on a deep level like they had done twice in the past, but just scratching the surface. When she found that Luc was being truly honest, her eyes widened, and she took a 'step' back from him.

Now she understood, the hiding, the run from the one Elder that wanted to use her like cattle.

No name, no indication of just how important she truly was.

She felt betrayed, and at the same time, grateful, mixed with a feeling of dread. Her tail buckled beneath her, and she rested on the edge of her bead, her face clutching the bottoms of her palms. She had dropped the flower to the ground as she did so, it fell gracefully to the cold floor, lost, forgotten.

"Oh god…" she whispered between her hands.

He looked down to her. He spent so much time preparing on a way to tell her, and she just found out within two minutes, he felt like a fool. He hunkered down and sat beside her, gazing into her face that burrowed into her shaking hands.

"W-What am I going to do…I…Queen? Oh..."

Normally some people would be jumping up and down at such great news, to be part of a royal family would be a great gift to bestow on some people.

But Ana was not _some people._

He wondered how she felt, perhaps the exact same as he did when he fist found out he had cancer.

"Ana…"

She didn't look up.

"You don't have to do this alone."

"There's no Angelko I want that could be my king. I…I can't fathom the idea of…"

"No Angelko? What about a human?"

Now he had her attention.

"I could…you know…"

"You…you'd want to?" she asked.

"Honestly? I don't _want_ to be a king, no." Her eyes began to droop again. "But…forgive me, I would rather be at your side, then see you with someone else, or no one at all."

"But I don't _want_ to be a Queen. I realise that all those years of the quiet life, away from the fighting and not having to worry about a thing, I want that, I don't want a thousand younglings, or a crown, any of that."

"I just want to be normal." she finished.

Luc planted a hand on the lowest part of her tail, which lingered aimlessly near his waist. It was such a demand for just one person, to breed the next generation, all on her own. Though the Queen did say that this wasn't the norm, when they had more of people like Ana. Was she disgusted by the Viper clones like the Commander and the rest of them were with ADVENT's troopers? Did the Elders give no interest in whether its species were cloned or not?

 _They probably care for more than that._

An odd thought.

"I know Ana, but, we can find a way to do that."

"How?"

"I don't know…" he shook his head. "I just don't know."

She sighed in defeat and lowered her arms to her sides.

"I've got your back Ana, every step of the way."

"Yeah? What about when you got captured?"

He chuckled. "OK, from now on."

Silence passed them for a while, when Ana lifted her head towards him, they stared once more at each other.

She smiled a warm smile. "Thanks, Luc."

"Forgive me?"

"Hmm…No." she replied, receiving a shake of Luc's head.

"I'm sure the idea of a Queen and a human will sound better later on." he said.

She scoffed at him.

"…Maybe not."

"Luc, how long have we known each other for?"

"Since Isa? About…nine months?"

"And during this time, you've left behind your old life, and fought ADVENT every step of the way, and you want to give it all up when it's over, and be with me?"

"I love you, Ana."

She clasped his hand on her tail with both of her own. "Remember what you first said to me? In that alleyway, after those men were down?"

"Uh…what did I say?"

"You said that you are 'no warrior'…Where did that modest man go Luc?"

"He found someone special….Wait, what did you just…"

She snickers.

"Funny? _My Queen?"_ He said this in a slightly mocking and sarcastic way.

"I love you too… _my King._ "

"Its gonna be really awkward getting used to that, how about just names?"

"Agreed."

She suddenly went in deep thought.

"What's the significance of 'Ana'?"

"Well, A2, two 'A''s, and 'Ana' was easy to remember."

"Forgetful, am I?"

"Not in the slightest…" They closed the distance between themselves, and wrapped each other in their arms. They broke apart after a minute, smiles painted on their faces.

"Well, I should….get going, g-goodnight."

He barely lifted his shoulders when Ana clung to him.

"Do you want to stay?"

 _Yes._

"Oh, well…"

"I can read your thoughts." she stated.

"Oh, right."

The mattress was big enough for two of them, so, awkwardly, he laid down on the right side, back against the soft cushioning as he stared at the lone light above him. Ana crawled along from the base of the bed and half coiled, half lay to his left.

She knew Luc would rather think about what to do, than just do anything.

She rested her left hand on his chest and turned on her side to face him. With extreme caution, he returned his own embrace, wrapping around her shoulders with his left arm. They stared into one another's eyes with their own hidden intentions behind them.

"Do you…"

But he trailed off, there was no need for words, they were both thinking the same thing.

And they both wanted to.

She wore her greyish black chest armour, it acted as her vest for casual wear, with a flick of a small switch on the area below her shoulders, the armour lost its rigidness, replace by a much more flexible state. She slowly slipped one arm through the vest, and lifted it off her neck and hood, slipping out of her only source of clothing as if it were a shirt.

Her abdomen was a mingling of orange and black, her figure was like one of an athlete in her prime, the curves and the shape were perfect in Luc's mind.

Her breasts were even, perky, and were a coat of dark orange, it was all to strange for him, how human her perfect body was, his eyes trailed down to her lower body, and her entrance, diamond shaped, was there.

She hummed him, and he noticed he had been staring the whole while. She placed the vest off to the side and stared expectantly at him. In a similar way, he removed his shirt with both hands, and his shoes soon followed, then his pants, everything.

He ran his hands down her gentle scaly figure, starting with her neck then down to her tail, his touch was so gentle, that only the tips of his fingers connected with her form, she was smooth, he felt every small indent in her skin. His delicacy never stopped as he brought his head to her neck and gave his tongue the pleasures of her body. His hands were slow, as if the slightest change of movement would scare her off.

Ana was surprised and relieved at this action. His mouth swirled around and around on her sensitive neck, she closed her eyes and wrapped her hands around him, careful not to dig her claws in too much.

He felt her hot breath sweep over his neck, her cold body pressed against his warmth, like the cold night had just consumed the first rays of sunlight. Ana's pleasure point was going on to the brink of collapse, her hands began to tighten around him as he never took a breath to stop.

She returned the favour, and bore her fangs to get her own slippery tongue to lash out on where his shoulder meets his neck, he leant his head at an odd angle, so as to give her better access.

She began to coil her tail tightly around his legs, wrapping one up like rope, however his other leg was free, and he used the tips of his toes to rub against the very base of her tail. She felt a wave of ecstasy wash over, the tip of her tail all the way to her head.

On instinct, she began to tighten her tail more, and snaking the rest of her around his waist.

Luc prodded at her mind with his own, she let him in without hesitance. All around his mind was nothing but Ana, endless amounts of her form covered his mentality. All this he saw behind closed eyes.

He stopped his neck massage and felt her do the same, their faces met, and so did their mouths. Her soft wet tongue seemed to wrap around his insides as they battled for internal dominance, but what was his compared to hers? He didn't stand a chance as she turned his whole body so he was on his back. She controlled him without effort, and Luc didn't fight back.

The whole world beyond the room was blacked out, his reality, was her.

The Zen-like whooshing of her nostrils sent chills down his spine, warmth radiated off him, but the cold wind from her seemed to counter that. He felt himself slip inside her, she gasped without moving her mouth from his, but continued her onslaught without stopping.

She began rotating her 'hips' once he was inside her. When she moved, her body seemed to caress his ever so slightly built and tanned upper figure. The tips of her breasts made smoothing contacts like a brush on canvas. Her insides felt warm, yet cold, it tried to envelop him, draw him further in, but at the same time, tried to press him out. His already hard erection grew beyond his limits as he pushed deeper and deeper into her bed of pleasure.

The strangest yet welcoming sensation came over him, it felt as if something special inside her, worked its way through his organ into himself, into his very soul. He returned his own from his built up member, and they kept going.

Luc noticed he was out of breath, yet Ana didn't let up. He pulled back his head, and she stuck to him like a magnet, it took more force to break contact with her tongue, which had coiled his tongue like her tail did to his leg.

As he took much needed gasps, she brought her fangs onto his neck, and on instinct, clamped down to his shoulder. She let controlled poison seep into him, not enough for harm, but enough for her own needs.

Her breasts were perfect as he cupped them into his hands, he painted a mental picture in his mind by feeling around them, taking in every detail, squeezing them every now and then, earning more gasps from his alien lover.

The whole time, neither opened there eyes, the passion and the pleasure they felt was draining. Human and alien, the meeting of two races, the meeting of two independent minds and bodies.

They became as one. Their bodies moved in rhythm with each thrust of passion. Never before had either one of them felt so alive, so in sync as they pushed into one another.

"Watch the teeth." Luc whispered.

She let her fangs recline back into her mouth, and separated from his shoulder. It gave him the opportunity to move her down to the sheets of the bed, he swiftly held her wrists with clenching hands as they swapped positions.

He clutched her hands against the bed so hard that his knuckles went yellow. She faked a struggling motioned underneath his tight grip, she heaved her chest so it touched his face, he moved down to her a second later, and she welcomed him into her mouth. Tightening her cool passionate embrace further.

The wall, however thin it was, collapse between them, the wall that separates two peoples emotions. The indescribable way one can feel to another, could be.

She embraced his warmth like a sponge as she tasted every last inch of his mouth.

She could have easily crushed his body like this, tear him in two, but he could easily do the same with his mind. But these thoughts were on the back of her mind as Luc continued to push into her.

They continued on into the night, only almost non audible gasps and moans could be heard from the outside of the room.

-XXX-

The next morning, the two of them lay in each other's arms.

Luc watched Ana rise and fall with such gentle grace. Others would look upon with disgust at what he had done on that night, maybe his past self would've thought the same.

Not anymore.

He wouldn't have changed her if he could, he was just glad to be with her. It was just that, plain and simple.

As if she had a sixth sense, she stirred and tightened his grip on him. Now awake with half-sleeping eyes, she stared lazily at him.

"Hey."

"Hey."

She looked so cute in this state. The deadly alien predator, laying beside him at his most vulnerable. And not a hint of worry past him. She snuggled up and pressed herself against him.

For an alien, she sure was cuddly.

"You alright?" she asked, now fully awakening.

"Never better."

"Maybe you should lay back down Luc."

"Why?"

"Well, it's just that…you look…exhausted." She said this with a small smile.

Luc was flustered, and smiled back shyly. True he was a bit tired.

"Well, I didn't get much sleep."

Now it was her turn, it was physically impossible for her to blush, he felt her thoughts, and he knew she would if she could.

"A question." she said after a moment.

"Yes?"

"Where did you learn to… _do_ that?"

 _Your mother._

No, he didn't think or say that out loud, he had enough control to hide _some_ things from her. He could imagine the sheer amount of awkwardness that would pass between them if he had told her that. So after a few moments of thinking, he made up something on the spot.

"It's just…I don't know."

It _appeared_ that she bought it.

"Don't make me ask you if it was OK." he continued.

She gave a slightly different shade of smile. Sought of the ' _I have you now'_ look held within it. So rather than pursue down this dead end road, he simply lay back, and let the silence envelop them.

Neither knew how long they stayed like that, it was just peaceful, being in the presence of one another was like a dream from heaven.

 _Nice things must come to an end._

"There a shower room near here?" he asked sometime later.

"Just down the hall, need a hand?"

"Where's all _that_ coming from?" Luc said with a grin.

"Way to go Luc."

"My thoughts exactly."

Slowly, and reluctantly, he got out of the covers, and planted his bare feet on the cold ground. Ana clutched his shoulder, still lying down, like a child would her toy, playfully, he shrugged it off, and stood up.

He was mid-motion to opening the door when she called to him.

"Luc?"

"Yeah?"

"Your clothes."

"Oh."

He was just about to go out, in the Avenger, with countless humans and aliens on board, butt naked.

Thank god Ana was there.

He thanked her, donned his clothes, and went to wash up.

-XXX-

She took her turn when he had come back after twenty minutes or so.

How had he done those things? As far as she knew, no human knew of such…sensitive parts of her, or her kind.

She dried herself with a towel in one of the shower blocks, about ten or so booths filled with identical shower rooms lined one side of the room, a massive mirror, along with sinks, lined the other.

But even as she slipped on her armour once again, the same question kept repeating in her mind.

But still, she wasn't complaining.

She decided to drop it as she made her way back to her room. Luc had, oddly, made the bed sheets, lined them up on pristine and well adjusted angles.

Luc couldn't think of answer when she asked him why he did it.

"Shall we, get something to eat?"

She was rather famished.

"Let's."

They strode in the Avenger's halls side by side. No one even gave a second glance at the couple as they made their way towards the mess hall, they were clueless.

The place for soldiers to die down and recover their strengths, couldn't look anymore similar to a school's cafeteria if it could. Eight tables, lined so there was four on each row, with long benches covering their sides, all of them pushed to the back wall, while a long stretch of metal housed the 'all you could eat' bar.

But all you _could_ eat was in fact the same slabby meat every day. That, coupled with some slightly less vile things that anyone (Now including aliens) could eat.

This morning was bacon and eggs.

Must have been a good day.

Ana preferred just the bacon, she thought the eggs were repulsive. But Luc liked all of it.

Not many people were up it seemed, only a few tables had anyone sitting at them, but in the far corner sat Kurt, sitting contempt, staring and tapping at a datapad and laughing every few seconds, his other robotic arm held a fork slightly above a crummy plate. The two of them slithered and walked across the chrome floor, and sat opposite him, and beside each other.

"Kurt."

"Luc."

"Kurt."

"Ana. What's up? You guys are in early."

The two of them didn't respond, they had already begun digging in to their morning meals. They scoffed it down like their lives depended on it, Ana even went back for seconds, but Luc stayed behind, and got a confused look from his friend.

"Didn't get fed during my capture." Luc lied.

"What about her?"

He lightly shrugged. And brought his eyes down to the table, the datapad had blocks of text scribbled all over the screen, Luc asked him what he was doing with it.

"Commander wanted a team name, I gave one."

"This a group decision?"

"No, just me."

"Better be good."

"Don't tell anyone! I wanna hear it on the speakers, should be soon. Commander wants us out there later." He had pointed a metal finger at him accusingly as he said so.

"Anything good?"

"Tygan wants a codex jacked, and I'm going to deliver it. Something about data, _more_ data, that's all there ever is."

"Look on the bright side, a codex? That must get you to colonel by now."

"That'd be good. You know where the highest ranked soldiers? Our little team?"

"How many kills you got?"

"Thirty."

"Thirty one."

"Want to bet on who gets more at the end of all this?"

Luc smiles. "What are the stakes?"

"Loser…has to hook up Thalia and the Commander!"

"You can't force two people to 'hook up'."

Kurt waves a disbelieving hand at him. "Ah, what do you know?"

Again, he shrugs, only this time he had a mischievous smile.

Ana quietly returned with a plateful of bacon, stacked up like a bunch of Jenga pieces. She wasted no time in taking her seat and chowing down on the many pieces of food. Sometimes she swallowed them whole, others she would chew with her limited supply of teeth, she made the loudest gulping sounds that no human could even match.

The two humans gave surprised, yet approving looks, Kurt even gave a series of small, almost unnoticeable nods.

"Careful now, all the bacon will be gone for the rest of us all."

Ana scowled at him, then went back to eating.

"So you got to name our team, in one morning?" Luc asked.

"Shen fixed me up, not that hard it seems, gave me access to electronics like this pad here, now I can look up anything I want, just like in New Isa."

"I wonder what kind of things you look up, man."

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

The robotic calm female voice of the ships A.I. soon filled their ears, stopping Ana in mid motion to stuffing another strip of bacon to her fangs.

" **Team: 'The Hugh Jass'' please report to the hanger bay."**

Kurt had burst out laughing the second later.

" **Repeat. Team: 'The Hugh Jass'' please report to the hanger bay."**

"The Huge asses?" Ana said with a mouth half full.

This got Luc to reluctantly start laughing as well.

If the bench hadn't been supporting Kurt, he'd be on the ground at this point. Kurt slammed a fist on the table and took a much needed gasp of air.

"It's OK…I'm fine."

The back wall had the Commanders thin white line on it, it turned on, and if it had eyes, they would bore into Kurt's back as he laughed at his own little joke.

"Who?" she/it asked.

Luc and Ana, once more in sync, pointed to Kurt. Though they needn't had answered, it wasn't exactly hard to tell.

"You've lost your new found privileges, _Major._ " The sentence was harsh, a lot of emphasis went on to his rank. Kurt immediately stopped his fit, and gave a small 'Yes ma'am' in his quietest voice, he had no reason to fight back, he could only make it worse.

"Your banned, buddy." Luc stated with mock.

"Named the team after _you,_ Luc." he replied curtly.

"No, you're thinking about Pheebs."

"Oh- I'm going to kill you."

"You and Pheebs?" Ana asked.

"No."

….

"Maybe."

"C'mon Kurt, at least try, you might be surprised what can happen." Luc said with a small glance at Ana, who curled up her lips as well.

"You two?!" Kurt noticed the small exchanged look between them.

"Get yourselves down to the hanger bay, _now._ "

"Yes, Commander!" Three voices replied.

They had almost forgotten the ever constantly listening Commander, whose line shut off after the final words of warning.

Kurt had flicked his head back in surprise, then turned back to where Ana and Luc where sitting.

They were already halfway out the door.

-XXX-

Luc pounded his final beam of pure death into the Sectoid down below. He was in on the cusp of a highway in the streets of Berlin, the late evening sky was painted a blood red, ironic for the occasion. Alien blood had poured tonight.

The highway travelled across a great commercial district, where there target had been located, but the hacking of the ADVENT terminal was secondary compared to their current goal.

The goal, was the codex.

And the Ranger, duel wielding his two axes, was here to jack it.

On his wrist, he wore a light blue bracelet, which projected an odd looking shiv-like knife with two blades. Though it looked like your hand would pass through it like it would a ghost, it still stuck into its foes with cruel swiftness.

The Ranger was Nox, and as he sliced the last Captain to stand in his way, he took one deep breath, and sheathed his weapons.

The streets of the commercial district they found themselves in was shaped like one giant 'H'. Between the two 'U's were buildings showing off the latest fashions and news. But what all the bright lights that shown through the windows didn't mean a thing.

Not anymore, half of one of them was engulfed in flame, the other was littered with two squads of alien fighters.

Thalia thought it a good idea to throw two grenades into the same buildings, the latest in fashion was set aflame after that.

The highway cut straight through the middle of the 'H', and he and Dan had perched on the northern barrier, killing with damn good ground. ADVENT never stood a chance.

"One signature left, team." said Central.

The lack of a name for the team brought the smallest of smiles to Luc's face, but it didn't last long, the final contact was in sight.

The final figure was like that of a humanoid woman, only rather than skin, it had endless streams of coding, flowing down its entire form like a river of water. Two white eyes donned its face, connected with an odd black headset.

It seemed to shimmer, torn between two alternate realities, it glitches around as it ran behind an ADVENT lamp post.

Luc sensed it, it was _organic_ in a way, he could feel its brain as if it weren't just some machine programmed to kill anyone it thinks is a threat.

 _Perhaps it's not a machine as we all once thought._

Using his amp that he found under unknown circumstances, he fired his mind out to it. Down below on the cold streets, Ana and Phoebe begun to fire plasma at the final, dangerous enemy. They covered Kurt, who drew nearer and nearer.

Then, the codex was gone.

Now it was on the highway.

Dan didn't know, but Luc did, he spun on the spot, and annihilated where the thing had teleported to. It crouched behind a car, abandoned as soon as the fighting had begun.

It had to be gone in one go, it was standard procedure by now.

And this time, he only grazed it.

It clutched its abdomen in seemingly anguishing pain, glitches with a horrible scream, then ducked out of site behind the red chassis of the vehicle. Its form, just before it hid away, was slightly smaller.

This wasn't a good sign as most would think.

Now a second codex was on top of the burning building, eyes on the backs of his teams heads down below.

Dan hoisted himself up with a grunt, his large rifle baring him down as he ran head first into the original codex's position. Pistol drawn.

The thing didn't know what hit it, as it was peppered with several beams of blue death from the small pistol.

It had happened so fast, even Luc barely registered the speedy snipers movement across the lanes of abandoned traffic.

Another cry of a banshee, and the codex dropped to its knees, clutching its mysterious head in unimaginable pain. It was hard to comprehend how bullets or plasma could even _hurt_ the thing, but here it was, splitting into nothingness for a few moments, then it was gone. Nothing but its black headset remained, it clunked to the ground once, and went still.

Not much changed, they still had a codex to jack.

The four down below held there fire, Thalia had yanked off the pin of an unusually large flashbang grenade, and through her arm in a great arc, sending the grenade an impressive distance. Landing with a few clangs off the surface of the roof, right at the codex's feet.

Unusually, the white flash weakened the physical lines of computer coding. Another wailing cry, and its knees started to buckle.

It never noticed Kurt as he climbed the ladder behind it, and brought down his fist, skulljack extended. It cut through the back of its 'head' like a knife through butter, and the lights of the codex's eyes begun to fade, the codex didn't even fight back as it slumped over the edge of the roof, dropping its cloned rifle off the edge.

"Hacking in…I got it." Kurt spoke after a few moments before releasing his arm from the now dissipating codex.

After it fell, all was silent.

"Good work, Skyranger's on the way." Came the voice of central once more.

Suddenly, a black hole came out of thin air on the nearby street, it held a great purple hue all around a swirling black centre, from above, it looked as if a plug was pulled in the bottom of a drain. It twirled around for a second before disappearing completely, and in the centre was a black armoured figure hovering slightly off the air, as if it was a prophet of truth, it had its arms extended outwards.

It landed on one knee, and stared at Luc from across the way.

On its face, a purple mask covered it from eyes to chin, and it had wavy white hair. Its staring caused Luc to become almost petrified.

Normally Luc was the last to panic in a battle, as he had never done so in the past, but Luc began to change as he looked back to its hidden eyes, and changed into a small boy, frightened of everything around him. Luc hunkered, he couldn't get the sight out of his head.

Behind the figure, a ghost lay behind and above it.

A ghost of an Elder.

Like the codex, it teleported behind them, below the highway and covered by a low fence, and peppered Thalia with extreme precision. Hundreds of small magenta lights shot out from its barrel, and sizzled her back, sending her into a terrifying frenzy.

The figure didn't even flinch as she threw her last grenade it its position. Instead, it disappeared, and reappeared behind Kurt, still on the roof.

But wherever the figure teleported, the ghostly Elder would always loom over its shoulder like a possessive parent.

It held a sharp deadly rifle in its hands, and used it to block the twin axes that Kurt brought down on it, metal crossed metal, and they both struggled for an edge on the other.

Dan, having not noticed Luc's panic, lined up his rifle, and made one quick shot on the things head. Its facemask got one crack, and its head snapped to the right.

Yet it still managed to disarm Kurt, its head reeled back like a demon, and swiped away the axes with inhumane strength.

One hit against Kurt's temple, and he was out cold.

"Lance!" Phoebe called out as she fired plasma to the roof, even though the thing was already gone. "Soulfire it! Do anything!"

The only thing that came from Luc was heavy breathing, as if he was stuck in the thinnest of atmospheres.

Even though a sniper round pierced its head, it only looked like a dent in its head as it appeared in the burning wreck of the building, giving it an intimidating presence as the flames engulfed it, but didn't even hurt it as the flames swallowed it up.

Phoebe's GREMLIN, now sparking small bolts of lightning, flew right over the new enemy's head, and sent an unimaginable charge of electricity down its body.

It made a small flinch, but that was all.

That, and it teleported again.

"Coward!" Thalia called out, who had been pounding the flames non-stop. But the masked figure had appeared beside her, she had been behind a truck on the road on the left most side of the area they had been fighting in, she and Ana had not moved since it appeared.

And now it was stuck between them, perhaps it had made an error in its judgement. Was it teleporting randomly? Or fixed?

The green beams from the two aliens hit the figure mercilessly.

Yellow fountains of blood shot out of its sides and chest.

With a purple flash, it moved again.

This time up on the highway.

Behind the colonel and the warlock where the codex once was.

Luc had still been breathing rapidly, but he managed to lift his gun and fire once, only to miss entirely, his arms were shaking uncontrollably.

It shot Dan's back with a burst of plasma from its large rifle. He collapsed in a heap. The figure walked its way over to Luc's crouched form, and loomed over him, gun bared.

Luc didn't even try to fight back, he merely watched it strut over to him.

 _Just embrace it._

Behind him, Ana slithered up a support pillar, and spat poison at a great distance. The figure was engulfed in a coat of green bubbly substance, paired up with Ana's last plasma charge, it couldn't stop itself from dropping its alien rifle.

It fell to one knee, one large hole torn through its back, after a few moments, its knee gave away, and it fell. The ghost behind it had begun to spin on the spot, giving off a cry of pain before seemingly exploding in a psionic flash.

All was silent.

Luc's mouth was slightly parted, he was hunched on the ground, he had dropped his weapon in fear, and had eyes wide as orbs, he looked like a patient at the local mental hospital.

The rest of the team moved up to the highway, while Ana raced over to Luc, going down to his level and clutching his shoulder with one hand.

"Luc?"

No response, not even a flicker of his eyes.

She repeated his name again.

Nothing.

Thalia had clambered her way up and over to them, if she hadn't restrained herself, she would have punched him then and there.

"Speak up! What's WRONG with you!? You could've gotten us all killed!"

Despite the shouting Muton, there was no indication that Luc even recognised or heard her voice.

"Pap's is fine." Phoebe called over. "Nox is coming to." Her drone was down below, checking Kurt's vitals over.

"Men…" Thalia grumbled.

Ana closed her eyes, and opened her mind once more to her human friend.

 _What's wrong?_

With a flick of his head, he stared at her eyes, his purple iris' were filled with worry and dread.

"I've…I've seen this thing before."


	20. Chapter 20

"You failed to mention this, why, exactly?"

"Central, I lost my memory…I don't even know what it is."

"It is, according to my autopsy and observation, our 'Avatar'." Tygan interrupted.

The three of them (plus the Commanders line nearby) were in the research labs, a lone bench that Tygan had used to cut open all there alien corpses was in between the three of them, atop said bench was the 'Avatar's' body, dried blood crusted its midnight armour, and it slumped its head lazily to the side, mask still on.

"This is in fact, an Elder, not in its final, new form. But a sort of 'work in progress' build, very Psionically gifted as you can probably tell."

Tygan was right, the corpses brain was still somewhat alive, even with this many plasma burns torn through it.

After Luc had calmed himself over seeing this 'Avatar', the memories began flooding back into his head. The Avatar, was the very same thing he found his alien psi amplifier with, though strangely, this one didn't have one.

"This thing, the other one I'd seen, it made me what I am now."

His eyes drifted to the purple facemask.

"Its…The Elder is still alive. Its…"

"During my autopsy, the Elder appeared for a moment, it's gone, I assure you. Though I am concerned that if the Elder gave you your powers. Why did it do it? And can it take them away?"

"More importantly, is it possessing _you_?" Central said with narrowed eyes.

"Central, surely I'd have attacked you by now, right?"

"Well, I suppose…"

Luc had replied rather too quickly at his last question, but this went by unnoticed.

"Did the Elder say anything to you? Any information?"

Luc thought hard, pressing one hand to his temple as he did so. He remembered it talking to him, before he even laid eyes on its half dead figure. It acted like his guide, his companion as he crossed the great desert.

But that couldn't be right, it was just his head playing tricks on him. No voices, he wasn't that crazy.

His memory told him otherwise, it was like two brothers, always fighting, never listening to the other, that's what his head felt like.

"Yeah. A... no, nothing."

"Interesting, for a moment.."

"Wait! There was something, a…a name."

"Go on." the Commander spoke up.

Now Luc was becoming frustrated, it was right there, on the tip of his tongue. It had been there, it had all been there a few moments ago, now it was slipping away off the cliffs of forgetfulness.

"I…I don't know." he said with a sigh, after a minute of thinking.

 _Just need more time._ He mentally thought.

"This will have to wait. The gate we recovered, how's that going Tygan?" said the Commander.

"Our recent findings on that subject was remarkable, in fact, it may possibly help get your memory back Luc. If this creatures psionic energy rebooted that event, the gate could as well."

Over the last few weeks, the gate was recovered and upgraded into the shadow chamber, it had to be disassembled and reassembled several times, but even through the thick walls of the ship, it still sent off unusual energies. They must have done their recent 'findings' while he was gone, as he sensed nothing too astronomical from it.

It was worth a shot.

"Let's go then." Luc said, following Tygan out of the glassy room, leaving the dreadful figure behind them.

-XXX-

It was in the shape of a broad 'U'. It was made from what seemed like countless amounts of root-like metals, curling and twisting all around its frame. In its centre, was like something out of a vision, a one way mirror was showing some alien backdrop. The scene was filled with other similar gates, spread randomly all over a large metal platform.

It would change every ten seconds, showing large rooms filled with odd alien plants, almost like a garden bed you would find on earth. In the background were flying animals, most looked like sharks or fish, that's when Luc realised they weren't flying, but _swimming._

"Where is that?" Luc asked as soon as they stepped into the chamber. The walls were backed with numerous consoles and buttons, but three terminals stood out from them, showing mostly energy readings, and odd shaped aliens, which Luc had never seen. There was one he did recognise, an Elder, only it was robeless, and was unusually skinny, the thing was hideous.

"Unknown at this time, we tried sending a GREMLIN through, only to be pushed out, so don't approach it too much."

Four steps lead up to the gate, he planted one foot on the first step, and embraced the waves of psionics coming from it. Eager to put to rest his unruly memory.

Thirty seconds.

A minute.

Nothing.

Luc shook his head at Tygan, who nodded in understanding.

"Just a theory." Is all the scientist said.

"Thanks anyway." Luc replied as he stepped away, the gate spooked him somewhat, something about it just wasn't right, the way its purple aura seemed to dull the further he moved away from it, it was small, but noticeable.

However Tygan couldn't see what Luc saw, and thought nothing over it.

-XXX-

XCOM had assaulted the ADVENT forge some time ago, and they had brought back a body, one in a suit much like the Commanders when she was held in New Isa.

This particular suit was holding, as Tygan and his team found out after the Avatar's corpse was brought in, a foundation for the making of yet another Avatar body. How many were there? That question would never be answered.

Human and alien DNA intertwined throughout the Avatar, the material came from the gene therapy clinics, the unlucky civilians were culled, one by one, thousands upon thousands of poor humans, looking for cures to sickness, were cruelly turned into one final body suitable for an Elder to possess.

The Avatar, it was the aliens final goal.

What would have happened if they couldn't have killed it?

The perfect body, had it been complete, they wouldn't have been able defeated it.

All this research took weeks, almost a whole month. And during this time, the ADVENT network was beginning to get more and more active. Some operations had to be evacuated, as the sheer overload of reinforcements bombarded every area XCOM tried to punch.

The resistance was now a global threat, causing severe damage all over the world. Some towns and the occasional city would have rioting, protesting, and fighting within their streets, however these were purged within a matter of days, but the signs were true, and one thing was certain.

The people had begun to wake up.

Haven recruitments went up, and more and more people left the cities in favour of human company.

Four trucks slowly drove through a snowy field, the road was barely noticeable in the blizzard. The trucks were ADVENT, with guns protruding out there roofs.

They never saw the twenty odd rebels hiding in the snow, one man pulled a trigger, and they all blew up, sending mushrooms of smoke into the air. Any troopers to survive were brought to an end, from guns they never saw.

Supply convoys all over the world were wiped out, by rebels and XCOM alike.

The Elders watched over in shame, the reckless acts of humanity had destroyed the peace they had created. They ordered production of forces to an all time high, the lack of two ungrateful species didn't help, plus the resistances outstanding attempts at hacking mechanical forces.

XCOM was no longer a small plague, it was a giant thorn in their sides.

The once great prosperous cities and towns had begun to burn. Bodies, both human and alien, littered the streets, eyes lifeless, mouths agape. Alien airships flew overhead, evacuating there wounded and what few civilians they could, without taking unnecessary casualties.

They couldn't use battleship bombardments regularly, they needed the humans.

And the humans needed them.

So the Avatar project was sped up. All other priorities for ADVENT were written off, they only had one goal now, no need to improve weapons or armour, the project came above all else.

The council gave an abrupt call to the Commander to warn her.

"ADVENT is not taking the death of two Elders lightly, and in turn have greatly accelerated their final stages of the Avatar project. A plan is now in place for the rapid processing of all non-essential human life. To begin immediately."

The dark figure hunched forward on his screen.

"Not only is the deaths of their leaders accelerating their efforts, two alien species have almost entirely…defected, and are fighting in the streets."

"Vipers and Muton's." Shen commented, to which Tygan nodded beside her.

"ADVENTS speaker will announce a breakthrough for the human condition soon. Billions will flock to gene clinics across the globe. They will never return." he said grimly.

"The speakers address will broadcast live to a global audience via this facility."

The globe behind them lit up in several different spots, then a picture of a an alien tower pulled up on the side, acting like a beacon as it pulled waves around it, the structure linked to all the dots, acting like a sort of hub, down in Madagascar.

"We must use this against them. The information I am sending you should allow you to take control of the transmission and disrupt their network from within."

The video feed of the figure went fuzzy, if but for a moment.

"I ask one more thing of you."

"Yes?" The Commander asked.

"Broadcast the truth, and let the world know what is happening. Do not let your new found allies get the slightest of the upper hand. Our original project failed all those years ago, and now that we have our enemies on our side, I can only hope that you find a way to live with them, not for them."

"Without them, we wouldn't be speaking."

"That's the undeniable truth, Commander…." A door behind him was kicked in, the lock held firm. "Our goal was to be rid of them, yet now you work _with_ them, have a plan Commander, in case this doesn't last, which I fear it won't."

"I'll do what I must."

The door buckled again.

"We are both out of time." He draws a pistol. "Farewell, and good luck, Commander."

Two troopers burst through the door, guns blazing, the spokesman turned and fired, and before anyone's fate could be decided, static ensued, and all was silent.

"Commander?"

"Yes, Shen?"

"I think I have an idea to get everyone in the whole world to know the truth."

-XXX-

The Avenger landed a few miles south of New Isa, a new haven had been established for New Australia, and a few people were out with the Skyranger, lending a hand to them, whilst the science crews worked effortlessly towards finding a way to fight the Elders directly.

One soldier called in, and told Luc that Emily said hi.

He had to think about who this 'Emily' was, but it came to him when the unnamed soldier said it was a child. She was the only child, along with her mother, to survive the old havens assault, along with him and Phoebe. It brought a smile to his face when the soldier called it in.

On the Avengers right flank were Rangers 2 and 3. On the left side was a precarious cliff, and across to the horizon, the cities lights shown like a beacon in the night.

On the cliff sat the psi operative, there was no wind on this night as he stared endlessly at his old home. Last he saw, smoke piles rose out of it, now it was clean once more. He wondered what his house would look like. Ransacked? Perhaps untouched?

 _Maybe I should go down there and find out._

It seemed so small at this distance, a wave of nostalgia came over him. To think that this place was where it all started. His eyes drifted towards the cities edge, maybe his footsteps were still imbedded in the sands, trailing on into the unknown sandy fields. That old man, was he still there? Eating that soup in those rotten old bowls, or was it stew?

Did he even meet the old man?

 _Yes. He was there._

 _He wasn't there at all._

 _I met the Elder._

 _There was no Elder._

There had to be, how else could he be the only human in XCOM to be Psionically gifted? He killed it, it returned the favour.

What was with all these sudden doubts?

Luc didn't realise he was clutching his head with a tight hand, and never heard the slithering tail approach from the side.

It spoke to him, but he didn't listen, it called again.

"Luc?" it sounded very far, and echoed.

"What? Oh, hey Ana."

"You OK?" she said, coiling down to his side, and matching his gaze towards the city.

"Just thinking."

She gripped his right hand, she felt his own squeeze back.

"I said, do you miss it?" she repeated.

He gave a 'hmmph' sound at first. "Honestly? I prefer the beach."

"You lived on the coast?"

"No, I haven't."

 _How could you prefer it then?_

"I never got to ask you, how long have you been living in Isa?"

"About my whole…life…"

His thoughts warred again, his whole life? That couldn't be right, it didn't feel like he was there that much, yet it felt like home, he had called it home, thought it was.

He scowled, his memory had come back, and now it made less and less sense. He recalled the events of his life. But all that turned up, was the day he met Ana. A sudden ringing sensation went through his head, sort of like someone shaking a piece of metal, it held in his head for a few seconds before going away.

"Luc?"

…

"Luc?"

"Sorry, what did you ask?"

"How long you live there?" She pointed to the distant shimmering city lights.

"Whole life, all on my own."

"Parents?"

The ringing again. It only effected him slightly, he blinked one slow blink before answering.

"Both died long ago." he said in a monotone voice.

"Did you ever meet your father?" he asked her. "Ever see him?"

"No, my Queen… _mother,_ took great care of me, my King… _father_ , I hardly saw, maybe one time I did, but he never spoke. Did my mother tell you were he was?"

He told her that he was hibernating, off world.

"I wonder what he'd think, about _us._ " She sent her eyes to the sky, the great collection of jewelled stars seemed to reflect off her eyes, giving her the look of some great alien explorer.

He said something, but he couldn't hear the words come out of his mouth. Whatever he said, it got Ana to smile, and bring her head in to kiss him.

After a while, the couple started to feel the coldness of the air affect them. They stood and walked back up the ramp to Ana's room, together.

Luc completely forgot that conversation they just had, he never even recalled stepping out there in the first place.

-XXX-

Luc brought something with him when he boarded the ship for the first time. A gift from his friend, the long dead Indira, he had promised her that he would get everyone to see what they had seen, and today, he would fulfil it.

Video feeds of the outside and inside of the clinics, the ones in pods, the ones without limbs, cruel images that needed to be shown.

Correction, that should _not_ be shown.

Shen had implemented Luc's feed with other videos, one of a blacksite they raided before even Luc joined up. A line of pods, all filled with bodies, covered in green liquids, the faces underneath the helmets of the troopers. All of it was crude, and perfect.

It reminded him of James, his other dead friend, Luc was glad that after this message was seen, no one would meet a similar fate.

Shen was a powerful engineer, editing a video like this was nothing for her, it was perfect, it was ready.

Team 'The Hugh Jass'' was assembled in the engineering bay, the screen played through Shen's message, and they all approved. Across the open bay was the Commander herself, she strut down to them after it was finished.

"Needs more fighting…" Thalia commented afterwards. But when she was the first too spy the Commander, her attitude changed. "I mean, great work! You have good ideas, Commander."

"Thank you." And to everyone's surprise, she winked as well. Thalia's eyes seemed to roll back, and her large body tumbled backwards. The team had been side by side, and Ana stood next to her, if it wasn't for her mobility, she would've been crushed.

"Thalia, you…."

"Are alright!" she finished for her, standing up a second later, acting like nothing happened.

"OK team, Shen is going to…"

"Team what, exactly?" interrupted Kurt, rudely but with a stupid smile on his face.

She ignored him. "Shen will upload this 'gift' to the ADVENT network, the whole world will know the truth. I will send three others to get the network tower under our control, once done, _we_ will strike the heart of the Elder's operation."

Dan now, "Commander, we?"

She nods. "I'm going with you all, through the body of an Avatar, we will pass through the psionic gate, and fight the Elders head on."

"How many of us will go in?" he continued.

"Just the seven of us, not enough time send anymore of us in, once we are through, were on our own until the end."

Tygan and Shen had run hundreds of checks, they had constructed there own Avatar in the hopes of the Commander to use it, the gateway required it, and they had to provide. Only the Commander had interacted on the ADVENT network enough for her to use it, not even Luc was powerful enough to use it.

They had limited energy to keep the gate open, there would only be one shot, and only a few seconds to keep the gate open.

"I don't know who or what is on the other side, but I wouldn't ask you if I didn't think you all can handle it. If any of you have doubts, speak now."

Nothing, no sideways glances, no comments, no nothing. She had expected some hesitance, but perhaps they had all come to terms with one another.

"Alright, the op starts in two days, meet up at the shadow chamber, first thing in the morning. Get yourselves ready, do what you have to."

At that, she left. Albeit abruptly.

The six stood motionless, silent. Shen bid them good luck, and followed the Commander out.

Slowly, the team started to dissipate as well. They had gone on dozens of missions together, and this would be the one, the final one, do or die.

For the rest of that day, they did anything and everything together, they trained together, ate together, only at the end of the day did they retire to their rooms.

Only the Psi Operative and the Viper were together on that night.

Ana clung to the side of Luc, embracing his warmth. They made love again that night, each of them embracing both minds and bodies once more.

-XXX-

 _You made the wrong choice, that's all you ever have or ever will do._

 _Its time you learned the truth, if you'll make the right choice._

Back in Ana's room, she coiled around him, tail covered him like a coat, her body nudged as close to his as she could. Her cold body had warmed up against his bare skin, and her soft underside rose and fell peacefully.

He wrapped his arms tighter around her, and in her sleep, perhaps on instinct, she in turn did the same. The end of her tail drooped across the edge of the bed, along with one of his legs.

They stayed like that, the human couldn't sleep, not anymore, too many thoughts raced about, too many worries. They would willingly fight in the unknown, and there was a strong chance that they wouldn't _all_ make it back.

If it was Ana who would be left behind, what would he do?

There was no world without Ana.

Slowly, he untangled himself from her, dressed, and went down to the psi lab.

The last time he had been here was the day he first saw the psionic gate. He had trained his mind to its limits, earning him the rank of Magus. He could cast rifts, project beams of energy, mind control, inspire others, keep himself from dying and was immune to explosives and poisons.

He was the most powerful operative in all of XCOM.

It only took a thought of an aliens death to bring him on the verge of collapse.

He sat down on his bed, not being used in a while, as he spent most nights with Ana, and 'recalibrated' his psionic energy. Going over every detail of the void, reworking his mind so he was at peak condition, at his most focused.

However his mind was troubled, and the Viper upstairs knew it.

She came down after waking up alone, with Luc gone. She hastily equipped her vest armour and went down after him. She was leaning on the glass door to his cell, and his eyes were closed. He sent her warm thoughts through there bond, and he returned them.

"Come back Luc. Don't dwell on what hasn't happened, what _won't_ happen." she had said.

"I _can't_ lose you Ana, I don't know what I'd do."

She walked up to his sitting form, sat with him, and embraced him, kissed him, loved him.

"You won't."

"But…"

"Stop."

He kissed back, and all the worried thoughts slipped away. Their minds embraced, and they tugged each other in their arms, never letting the other go as they fell back into slumber.

The next day went by too quickly.

 _Nice things must come to an end._

They had spent the short day together, eating, taking walks on the cliff face. Spending the day together. And just like them, the rest of their team did so as well.

Kurt had noticeably spent more time with Phoebe, Luc didn't pry, but he definitely felt something between those two, he was happy for them, perhaps they could be something as well.

As for Thalia, she and Dan had been talking about the Commander, Dan gave her more information on her, and she was grateful.

All this Luc saw with his mind, he needed not his eyes to see it all unfold.

That final night was calm, quiet. The ship itself seemed to lose all its natural noises, somehow aware that today was its last normal day of being XCOM's headquarters.

They slept.

-XXX-

 _You are nothing._

The A.I.'s voice was calm, as if this mission was just like any other. It told everyone what to do, and fell silent after it served its purpose

The two of them, with great effort, pulled away from each other on that morning.

With the help from the other, they awoke as two soldiers. For the next day, they promised they would not let their emotions get in the way of the last step towards peace, towards there unknowing future together.

But words were what they were, words.

And words can, and will, be broken. So can people.

This mission would break them.


	21. Chapter 21

All was quite in the Avengers halls.

Not a sound, no groan of metal, no laughter, no sounds of the humans and aliens running their daily lives, nothing. The ship was landed, and the wind pounded off the hull, yet made no ruckus.

On the deepest, lowest part of the ship, the shadow chamber was awake, the portal into the unknown was ready to embrace the seven fighters, the last assault in the name of XCOM.

Human, Angelko, Muton, and one Avatar body were inside the chamber. No formation, most of them were spread around the chamber, giving off no words, no signs of even recognising the situation they were in.

Luc had hunkered down next to the doorway, the Commanders Avatar and Thalia were stood nearby, but not conversing. Ana stood, gazing over the gate from its behind, Kurt and Phoebe were checking their ammo and plasma weapons for the tenth time. And Dan sat motionless on the other side of the door.

Luc clutched his weapon to his side, barrel facing to the roof. Every now and then he would rub his eyes and shake his head, he looked like someone you'd see in a mental asylum. He didn't feel up to it today, something was pulling his focus away from him. It was like two ends of a rope, one end being his sanity, and an unknown force was gripping the other end, tempting him over the edge.

His heart was pounding, and his head thumped against his skull.

This feeling of nervousness, was not just in his own self. Everyone, even the Commander, was nervous.

But Luc's state, was far from normal.

But he wouldn't, _couldn't_ , mention it.

He knew in this state, the whole mission was compromised, he had been nervous on his first few missions, but today was far beyond anything.

He wanted to warn the Commander, say the words right into her facemask. _Don't let me go today._

But his lips were sealed with invisible stitches.

So he sat, only the silence to company him, him and his team. They all wore their warden sets, and had at least one grenade and flashbang strapped to their belts. Top of the line equipment, they were more prepared now than they ever would be.

The team to assault the network tower were out for a while now, he didn't know how long exactly, but it felt like days. Perhaps they had failed, killed off by overwhelming odds, then he could unpack, put down his gun and sleep, sleep and never wake.

He couldn't believe what he was thinking, he _wanted_ XCOM to fail.

Such thoughts could get a man in deep trouble.

For the second time, he pulled off his psi-amp from his back, and stared at the purple void between the teeth. It was smooth, even behind his armoured gloves, and it radiate with as much power as he himself did.

Perhaps he should just get another one, this one brought back painful memories, one that, if he thought about too much, would tear his insides apart.

He wanted to be done with all this already.

"Are they done yet?" he blurted out.

"No contact." The Avatar replied, and went back to staring down at her gun.

She bared an alien rifle, much like the one the other Avatar had, the thing could chew through buildings with the upgrades it had.

After that, he stayed quiet, but inside, he wanted something, _anything,_ to break the silence, it was weighing him down like a ton of bricks.

So they sat, and stood, in relative silence for a good ten minutes.

"Hey, Thalia?"

Kurt.

She gruffed, and moved her head to face him.

"Remember that time, that Turkish lady dropped you like a bag of sand?"

"Only after I dropped _you._ " She quickly replied. "Besides, I won didn't I?"

"Yeah, with some… _help_."

Kurt's eyes drifted to the crouched form of Luc. No words were needed, she went wide eyed, and huffed, like an angry wolf.

"You…"

Luc felt eyes upon him, he moved his hung head up to her direction, and smiled.

"I thought we weren't going to bring this up." the Commander commented.

"You…you all in on this?"

They all nodded in sync.

She felt sick on the inside, she thought she could prove her strength, thought the Commander saw her as strong, loyal, and able to take down even the strongest human she had seen. And when she was in that battle, she had a _human_ helping her win. She felt ashamed.

To no one's knowledge, the Commander gained _some_ similar powers as Luc had, one of them being able to read thoughts, and the Muton was no exception.

Truthfully, she didn't know how to react to the poor Muton, she knew her intent, but not how to approach back to her, it was a _giant_ after all.

Dan leant his head into view, giant sniper over one shoulder.

"I'd pay to see that again."

Thalia grunted, and adjusted her respirator.

"I'll fight again, _without_ you." She jabbed a finger in Luc's direction.

"Thalia, we all know you would've collapsed had he not." said Kurt.

She gave that death stare she always liked to do. Kurt said no more, and checked his gun _again._

Throughout this ordeal, Phoebe had not said anything, nor had Ana or Luc. She would glance at the Viper and human in turn, and eventually started to pry away from Kurt, and towards Ana, who never left her eyes from the gate.

She joined her side, and they exchanged small smiles.

After a few moments of silence, Phoebe coughed once, and stared at the portal with her.

"You and Luc, huh?"

She nods.

"Why aren't you over there?"

A pause. "Can't let emotions get through to us, not now."

"I don't know about you, but look at him, he doesn't look very…you know..."

Ana turned her head, and stared down at the hunched human. If he hadn't been clutching his eyes every few moments, he would have looked normal. She felt terrible, she hadn't noticed him doing this for the time they awaited in the chamber.

She thought for a minute, thanked her, and went over to him. He didn't even move his eyes when she coiled down to meet his level.

"What's wrong?" she whispered.

"Its…"

"Eyes up people! The tower is ours, now it's our turn to strike."

The Avatar readied its rifle, and walked towards the front of the gate. The rest of them stood, and got into formation.

Said formation was one line behind the masked Avatar. It was ordered with Luc at the front, and Dan at the back, the rest of them in between, waiting with batted breath.

Ana was directly behind Luc, she sent him thoughts of comfort, he turned and gave a small smile, but strangely, didn't return them. She brushed this off.

"Were going in thirty! Every fifth second after, one of you joins me, understood?"

"Yes Commander!" they all chanted in unison.

Directly above and behind the gateway was a small screen, the number thirty came up in red, and slowly ticked down towards zero. The gate itself began to glow brighter, covering their eyes a shade of purple.

Ana looked over Luc's shoulder, the Commander had one hand to her ear, the other had a palm outstretched, seeming to give the gateway its new found energy.

Twenty.

Thalia grunted behind her, one massive beam canon across her chest, she was adjusting small dial on the side, and nodded when Ana looked at her.

The other three humans were in a combat stance, the GREMLIN hovered slightly to the right of Pheebs, the Mark-3 drone was smooth looking, almost alien in design, it still held two bright yellow eyes, constantly hovering, with medkit's strapped to its sides.

Thirteen.

She remembered shaking hands with Central, Tygan and Shen as they armoured up, she had come so far, she used to be treated poorly by humans, now she saw them as equals, and these fighters, these XCOM, saw her as a friend.

Six.

She hoped they all made it back, this whole thing, the whole point of XCOM, was hinged on hope.

Hope that they could stop the Elders.

One.

The Commander, without so much as a hint of hesitation, jumped off her feet, and through the gate, one moment she was there, the next, she wasn't.

The timer slowly started to ascend its count.

Two.

Luc looked back at her, he gave a nod, and a smile before fixing his eyes forward.

Five.

Luc sprinted, and was gone. A wave of worry passed, but didn't linger, he would be OK.

Ten.

She lunged through.

-XXX-

A feeling of nothingness, a feeling of falling, of flying, of weightlessness. This is what they felt when they stepped through the gate. They all were on the Avenger, and then they were also somewhere else, some part of the world deep beneath the surface. Far into the terrors of the deep.

He saw the sides of the gate on the edges of his vision, it looked as if he was going down a long highway, and all of everything he saw was stretched like rubber bands. His rifle in front of him looked ten times bigger, and the end of the gate was an unimaginable distance.

Yet he was closing in on the end at the speed of light.

One foot in front of him, one behind. He was in mid jump, mid step, and he moved slowly, almost stuck in time.

The journey felt like a minute long, when it was only one thousandth of a second before he was stood next to the Commander in an alien world.

Raising his rifle, he checked everywhere for anything. They stood on a flying platform that went on for a mile in front of them. All around the platform was glass, with ass sorts of swimming wildlife panning across the glass.

In front of them were large structures, alien in design, with bland grey exteriors, and parts of the edges had curling metals that wrapped the walls like vines.

They reminded him of something, something familiar. They were identical to the ones where they found the Viper king, but it didn't just remind him of that. It reminded him…

Of home. Whatever that was. He didn't know anymore.

Five _whoosh_ sounds came from behind him, every five seconds, his team appeared, and scanned the room with curious eyes just like he did.

A massive beast of a shark swan by overhead.

"What the…" Kurt started.

"Eyes up, move in a line, don't fall behind." the Commander interrupted.

But as they moved in a line, Luc on the right side, the Commander on the left, and all the others in between, a sort of alien TV stood before then, and lit up a series of videos.

Footage of dozens of bodies, alien and human, revolting against one another and slaughtering themselves in the streets of cities. People fought and died within seconds, there bodies twisted, broken, and mouths agape with silent pleas.

Fires, the burning of civilization, the start of a revolution.

A feminine voice went through them all as they watched, they all, even the Commander, stopped when they heard it ring through their heads.

" _Such loss, such needless waste. You force our hand. Yet still we offer peace. Rejoin us and your world will be spared."_

The voice was familiar as well.

They ignored it, and pushed forward to the first alien structure. On their sides, more gates identical to the one they passed through could be seen, lined up like a set of experiments, Luc wondered where _they_ lead to.

Perhaps to alien worlds, or other parts of the earth, didn't matter.

They spread out, keeping a constant forward pace, they passed through the structure without incident, and found nothing of interest inside the alien building. There were what looked like garden beds lining the hollow interior, about waist high holding weird purple plants, but that was all that was of interest.

The Elders sure loved there purples.

They passed the structure, the platform opened up to a wide area, gateways dotted around the place with no indication of order, and machinery hummed away below and in front of them. Two gateways were on either side of them, and Luc slowly walked past the first, and felt one of them start to pulse.

It was activating.

"Comman…"

Before he finished, six MECS with red armour appeared from the edge of the open area in front of them, they were accompanied with three codex's and two archons. They pointed, shouted, and displaced into cover behind the alien machines, which looked similar to cylindrical power generators.

"Take them down!" the Commander said loudly, charging and firing her rifle while running behind a gateway. Luc did the same, and pounded an Archon with two beams, killing it immediately, its mechanical body didn't even get to raise its staff as it plunged into the ground.

The portal he hid behind began to hum.

Phoebe's GREMLIN hovered over the cluster of MEC's, and emitted a devastating EMP charge from its sides, the shockwave knocked out half of the MEC's before flying back to its master.

All of the codex's appeared behind the middle of the XCOM line, and Thalia had the worst of it as they fired at their flanks. She did not take this lightly, she roared, turned on her heel, and mowed down the codex's that hid inside the building they had passed. The arced doors and windows gave no protection against the Muton's might.

Her canon screamed, and so did she.

They duplicated, her canon ripped through most of the cover the building provided, leaving the clones exposed, but after half a minute of non stop firing, she had weakened the three codex's…

Into six.

Six weak codex's were still a pain, and Thalia roared again in triumph, and anger. Her shoulder was hit twice, but her armour held.

She ran back, lobbing grenades as she did.

The fight in front was going well, the other archon was accompanied by one weakened MEC, which buzzed every few seconds, sending blue sparks down to the metal ground. They fired blindly as they ran away from the fight. Dan lined up a shot, his crosshairs matched those of the MEC's torso. But just as he fired, it ducked into another similar structure like the one behind them, some fifty meters ahead.

They had all turned, and picked off the remaining clones, much to Thalia's disproval. Once the fight had settled, the Commander ordered that they push forward, to eliminate the two survivors. They trekked across the open area, leaving the humming gates behind them.

They were just seen exiting the other side of the next alien building.

"Fire!" the Commander barked.

" _You harbour such blind hatred for us, we cannot understand it. Our intentions for your world were never hostile. They are still not. You are a part of us."_

At that, several dozen ADVENT troopers backed up the two survivors, troopers, captains, lancers and shield bearers. There had to be at least thirty of them, all clustered around cover, guns trained on the XCOM team.

A volley of fire erupted between the two forces, XCOM received some grazes as they dodged for cover.

The Commander extended her arms like she was praying, and a huge dome of a purple cloud appeared in the midst of ADVENT's ranks. All the ten or so in the cloud had jammed weapons, but before they could attempt to fix them, the cloud scrunched inwards, and exploded in a wave of fury, killing them all from there insides out.

Luc made a few of their grenades blow off their waists, sending chunks of flesh flying, he didn't need his amplifier, but used it anyway.

A lucky shot nicked Luc's shoulder, if it were not for his dark blue armour, a red cloud would have sprayed behind him, but the thick alloy held, and it only felt like a punch to him. He fired off a single shot, wielding his gun blindly above a small barrier that he hid himself behind. His aim was true, and he felt a troopers mind vanish.

At that, he hooked his rifle to his belt, and pulled off his amplifier off his back once more, true he could not replicate _exactly_ what the Commander had just done, but he could do something similar.

It looked like a whirlpool, like the bottom of a pool of water had just had its plug pulled, it consumed three of his foes, who all cluttered behind the next structures wall. It fired out of his amplifier like a beam, then grew into the purple void he had cast. One of the troopers died, one panicked, and backed off, and one had its mind controlled by Luc, and fired at its two would-be comrades.

To Luc's left, his team crouched and stood behind similar cover, but Dan and Phoebe, along with her drone, had ascended to small platforms that jutted out of the ground, gaining a small height advantage of about ten meters.

Dan picked off the MEC with one last bullet, and leant his rifle on the platforms edge before raining a hand to his head, to the commlink.

"Commander, I see more squads on approach up ahead." he said calmly, ignoring the fight in front of him.

"We push them back, retreat isn't an option." she replied.

Then the Elder spoke.

" _Stop this pointless fight, and we will not harm you"_

"Like we are gonna believe that." commented Kurt as he fired off his rifle, killing a captain and wounding a lancer, who had kamikaze rushed across the open with a blade in hand.

" _More distrust. Perhaps you would find reassurance on our words if…"_

The voice trailed off, and left their heads, but it didn't leave _entirely._ One of the XCOM soldiers heard its voice come back to his ears, and he presumed they _all_ heard it.

" _..If one of your own sees the light in our truth."_

"Commander.." Luc started.

She continued killing off the poor helpless ADVENT soldiers, only for one kill was to be replaced with two identical clones.

" _Commander_ …"

"What?"

"We will be…killed, we must surr….fall back."

"No, keep firing!"

She took a green beam of energy to her chest as she popped out of cover to fire, she grunted, and hunkered lower to avoid any more fire.

More and more ADVENT and aliens continued to pour in from up ahead, eventually, all Luc could do was stay behind the thin barrier that was saving his life at this point, as great beams shot overhead.

Beams screamed, and Luc hunkered, almost curling into a ball to shrink himself as much as he could.

Ana was beside him, he hadn't noticed her the whole while, she was much more cocky than he was, she would twirl her body in and out of cover every few seconds and peppered anything that moved. Surprisingly, she didn't take a single hit, even after several attempts at stopping the tide of the enemy.

But she knew one thing, every time she saw the waves of ADVENT in front of them.

It didn't look good.

They must fall back.

Suddenly, over the wailing beams and bullets, came more _whoosh_ sounds, several of them, maybe dozens. The same sound that was heard when they travelled here.

Sounds of gates activating.

She spun around, the four gates on their flanks had lit up like stars.

Aliens came through, after a few seconds, the number of aliens reached fifty.

All armed to the teeth.

All Angelko.

This was it, either they fall to the ones on the flank, or the ones that had them pinned, her eyes widened, her heart stopped. Not because of this realisation, but because of one of the last to pass through the gate..

Was her mother, was her Queen.

Aiming two pistols at her head.

And fired both of them.

The beams soared passed Ana, she ducked to be sure, but it wouldn't have hit her, a lancer, who had crossed the gauntlet and had eyes on Ana, fell to the ground. The rest of the Queens guards, all wearing heavy versions of armour, similar to what Ana had donned before this morning, ran passed the XCOM line, and fought against the tide.

Spitting poison, choking troopers with powerful tails, killing without hesitance. And with the combination of XCOM, the ADVENT forces began to grow thin, and started to fall back.

And the Angelko perused, leaving behind XCOM, the Queen, and a few of her guards.

Ana and the Queen closed the distance between each other, and the humans (plus the Avatar/Commander) watched on, slightly on edge.

They were a foot apart from each other, and were silent for a minute before Ana broke the silence.

"Mother."

"…Daughter."

There she was, the one to shy her away from the big bad world, the one to twist lies into her thinking that she was merely 'A2' rather than the next of kin to the hierarchy of the species.

Ana felt that she should be opposed to ever seeing her after what she had learned, yet she knew the Queen cared so much for her, that she didn't want her taken away by the Elder that came before.

She didn't truly know what to do at the moment. A confliction had paralysed her at that moment, should she be angry? Grateful? Neither? She didn't want to linger any longer, so she sought out a reason so as to not tread.

She turns her back on her mother, and slithers forwards towards where her kind had gone, towards the somewhat distant firing of beams ahead of her. She passed by Luc without a thought nor word.

"Ana?" he called out when she passed, but she didn't even react, only the sound of her tail crossing over the metal ground beneath them.

Luc watches her, turns his head to the Queen, then back to Ana, and decides to follow her. This left the Queen, and her guards, around the XCOM team.

And the Commander had questions.

-XXX-

Just finish the fight.

Then she could worry about her mother.

Or not, she could just forget her, forget all of this ever happening, and spend her life away from it all, just her and her human.

Before her were broken bodies, some of them were of her own kind, but the majority were ADVENT, along with aliens of most races, all ripped apart and slaughtered like cattle.

It was naïve of her to even consider that she lusted for combat during her early days, she just wanted things to go back to the way they were.

Maybe, maybe it would.

Up ahead the metal below her rose into the air slightly, mimicking that of a hill. And a rectangular building presented itself, it walls were glass, and what she saw inside came as a shock as she sped up her pace.

Signs of human furniture, in a place like this, was quite weird.

She came up to the glass and pressed her head close. The best comparison she could make would be that of an enclosure of those old 'Zoo's' the old earth had. It was as if they plucked a piece of a city, no more than ten meters wide, and slapped it to wherever this fortress resided.

She went through a broken section of glass, avoiding the shrapnel on the floor nearby, and she gazed upon the mysterious rooms with awe. White rubble crunching beneath her weight as she did so, making small cracks below her.

The stench of this place was awful.

One room, as she wondered through the structure with no caution, held a bed, and some desks. Another was that of a living room, couch and a TV. And the last she saw was something of a playground, with dull green grass, withered away from lack of natural sunlight, a set of swings on one side, a circular spinning contraption next to it.

But all of this was nothing compared to what lay about on the wooden and grassy floors.

Bodies, skeletons at that.

No more than the size of grown children.

It wasn't just bones, linking them together were remnants of decaying flesh, chunks of skin were missing, like huge bites had been bitten out of the bodies arms and legs. Most of the bionics looked like rotten fruit, and gave off a belching smell that irritated her senses.

Reluctantly, she hunkered down beside the closest corpse/skeleton, its face was still somewhat whole, except the fact its lower left chin was open, allowing her a glimpse at the bottom of his jaw.

Black hair, glistening eyes even though he lay dead for who knows how long.

The boy from the blood islands.

She quickly straightened up, now clutching her gun in shock, and backed up. Her back bumped into a hard metal surface, and she spun around to meet whatever she had hit. Fangs bared, gun raised.

It was Luc, she hadn't heard him approach.

"Ana…" He had only just stepped into the enclosure she resided in, and had to fight the urge to release his lunch at the horrible sight before him. "You OK?"

"No… No I am not…" she replied truthfully, glancing behind her at the rotten corpses.

"Let's leave this place." He said as he placed one hand on her shoulder, he sounded more like trying to leave for _his_ sake rather than her own. They exited out of the other side of the building, and Luc had a look back to the human zoo, and before he could utter a word to his alien friend, the voice in his head returned.

" _So many lives lost to get you here, Luc. And for what? More violence, more death. Truly you are meant for something more than this."_

Here he was, stuck in the middle of some alien fortress at the bottom of an ocean. What did he do to deserve this fate? It was pointless, whether they had alien allies or not, the Elders would win, and there was no point fighting.

Yet they did not come all this way just to lay down and die, they had to keep going. They _had_ to.

" _There is still another way."_

 _Get out of my head._

" _Time and again, we offer you wisdom, offer our guidance to help you. Yet you still harbour rejection for our compassion."_

"Ana, do you hear that voice?" he asked as they walk beside each other, up ahead, the Queens forces were picking off the final remnants of ADVENT and Elder forces, though at heavy cost, they got the job done quickly.

"Not for a while now."

 _She does not carry greatness within her, you do Luc, you do._

Unbeknownst to Luc, Ana's mind was cloudy with the sights of those small corpses, that selfish part of himself thought that she didn't care about him, that she was just out for her own good, and that he was just a tool that her species used to kill the Elders himself.

" _You fight with two alien species beside you. You gave them a chance. Why not give this to the ones you continue to slaughter?"_

Neither of them spoke for the long walk.

They passed a gatekeeper's shell, and hulking wrecks of Andromedon's. Until they came up to a choke point on the platform, a narrow walkway was the only way forward, no more than two humans wide, it went under an alloy archway and into the unknown. The bottom of a statue could just be seen at the end of the walkway. Either side of the arch were the remaining Queens forces, about thirty, maybe more. None of them gave Luc and Ana a second glance, merely a bow, and then checking their weapons while they wait.

The next four or so minutes were silent, the voices had stopped for now, and Ana didn't utter a word to anyone, she just casted her eyes down to the ground, with Luc next to her.

Soon the Queen, the Commander, and there teams came into view. XCOM all gathered to Ana and Luc, while the Queen led her own to a nearby area, like two teams about to face off in a football game. They gathered into a huddle, Phoebe's drone tending to their wounds as they spoke.

"A temporary truce is between us and them is present, we do our thing, they do there's, Ana, is you want to…"

"No, my place is with you all." Ana replied to the Commander.

"Alright, let's keep going, I got a feeling this will be over soon. Form up behind me, get ready to move."

They did so, lining up behind the Avatar like the dots on the side of a dice. Beside Luc was Kurt, who nudged his shoulder after a moment of waiting.

"You see those kids back there?" he whispered.

"Yeah."

"To think that _that_ is what they have been doing down here, possibly for _years_. Why would they do that?"

"They must have had reason to do so."

"Reason? No, no there's no reason to do something like that."

Luc didn't even realise he was trying to defend the Elders, so he nodded, and spoke no more.

The Queen went through the archway first (the Commander insisted) and led her small army behind her. Some of them glanced at them, but they moved swiftly into the walkway, two by two.

Once they disappeared, the Commander ordered them to move out, and they followed the aliens through. Luc wanted to talk to Ana, ask her more about why she reacted so strongly to the children's corpses, or at least comfort her, but this was a warzone, there was no time for her.

The Queen gathered her forces to the left side of the opening on the other side of the walkway, and XCOM went to the right side. Between them, the biggest statue of an Elder could be seen, it towered over them, almost reaching the roof. It radiated with intimidation, with power, made out of what looked to be solid gold.

"If putting a statue of yourself in your _own_ fortress doesn't tell you you're a power hungry murdering race, then you need to take a good look at yourself." Kurt commented as he examined the large statue.

In front of the statue was a small square podium, a few seconds later a black hole appeared above it, and another Avatar appeared on top of it, it held a purple ball of energy in its left hand, and a rifle in the other. It looked menacingly at the groups before disappearing, but not without a threatening message, this is what Luc heard:

" _Your efforts deny the sacrifice of those who came before. If you do not listen, do not return to us, then you leave us no choice."_

The message was different for everyone, but the meaning was all the same.

The Queen held up her two pistols, and her small army followed her around the left of the statue, XCOM went to the right.

The area ahead had stretched on for a hundred meters, on the left and right sides were eight gateways, four on each side, all of them had sets of stairs leading up small ramps into them. The central area had small towers that extended out randomly. Between the five or so towers were terminals and trenches, flooded with small amounts of water. Every single surface had the magenta alien look to it, and they spread out to cover as much of the area as they could, passing by the first gateway on their right.

Luc took cover in a trench, his feet kicking up small splashed of water as he went into a crouch and peered ahead of him. He couldn't see his team, as his eyes were fixed on the tower in the most centre of the area.

Two archons, and three Avatars were on the roof of the tower. The three of them were identical, weightless white hair, purple masks, all holding purple guns of death. They gazed over XCOM and its allies like kings would to peasants.

"Take them down!" the Commander said angrily.

The agile bodies of the humanoid Avatars dropped into crouches, one even leapt off the tower and into a trench on the left side, firing at the queen and her forces. The archons flew up high in the sky, and sent four missiles each into the forces below. They spread out, and only one missile caused harm to XCOM, the Commander hadn't bothered moving, she was to focused on killing the Avatars. It crashed near her, but she didn't even flinch.

Luc couldn't speak for the Queen or her army, he swear he heard some distressed hissing on his far left, but didn't think about it for long, as an archon swooped over him like a bird, almost knocking his head off with its green staff.

He fired up at the god-like machine, surprisingly, its left arm was snapped off completely, spewing out blackish yellow goop out of its side. It made a mechanical cry as its engines seemed to turn off and on randomly. It fell to the ground with a clunk, and dropped its staff to clutch effortlessly at its limbless body.

With splashing water, Luc dashed forward, keeping his head low in the trench.

Thalia and Phoebe were on the right most side of the team, they had fired and landed a few shots on one of the Avatars, making it teleport away from them. However there relief was short lived, as the portal directly behind and beside them lit up with a purple glow.

"Thalia?" Phoebe said, holding in her panicky voice.

"What?" Her screaming canon made her yell over it.

"THALIA!"

A few shots.

Thalia turned, Phoebe jumped passed her from leaping. Thalia looked to what the reason for her jumping was, and spied three K'yul, one had just been retracting its long deadly arm, and they all stumbled towards her.

"Faceless!" cried Phoebe, spraying the rest of her gun at the closest slob, making it hunch over in response.

Without enough time to raise her great canon, Thalia got swiped over her chest with three deadly talons from one of the lumbering beasts. She roared, and returned the favour by jumping up slightly, and uppercutting the first faceless. If its goopy exterior was blood, then a bucket load of it fell to the floor, and coated Thalia's hand.

The faceless fell to one knee, not out, but down. Phoebe (and her GREMLIN'S taser) fired at the second sloppy beast with all the ammo they currently had. Tearing holes and splattering chunks of goo behind it. After a second of staring stupidly at them, as if to say _'How the hell did that happen?'_ it fell back, its pink residue spreading out around it.

The final ones beady black eyes went wide, acknowledging that its friends had no chance, even with the element of surprise against the rather angry Muton. It turned and tried to run back to the gate it came through, despite the Elders orders. It didn't live long, and never got a single attack off as the Muton's canon tore through its chest, and it crumpled to the floor face first, the floor being the last thing its eyes could see before darkness.

Then, with one last effort, she stomped on the back of the kneeling Faceless. Killing it instantly.

"Well…" Phoebe said with a sigh. "Guess that's over..."

The next gateway activated, and speeding down the stairs, were a group of Chryssalids.

Thalia roared, and charged into them, leaving a wide eyed human and her GREMLIN to support her from a safe distance.

Ana heard a roar on her right flank, but didn't react. Instead she fired at the group of troopers and Surn-tal ahead of her, which were led by two Avatars. She noticed the third Elder body had turned its attention to the Queen (or mother, she didn't know which to call her) and her guardians.

Nox, holding a plasma shotgun in one hand, a blue sword in the other, swiped and fired at anything ahead of him as he pushed forward as fast as he could. The Commander cast more voids into the enemy forces, killing off five and wounding three.

She fired at a Surn-tal, killing it quickly. She then slithered forward and scaled the tower the Avatars were first seen, firing down range as she did so. After a minute of trading fire, Nox pulled back to the front of her tower, and Papa came up beside her, levelling his sniper rifle, nodding to her, and firing along with her.

On her left flank, Luc was sprinting forward.

He had put his back to an alien terminal, he was somewhat closer to the Queens side now, and he examined who was left of them. About half of their ranks had been wiped out, they dotted the ground nearby the side portals, along with Chyssalid corpses and Sectoid bodies. The Queen, firing her pistols like some western cowboy, slithered to him and took cover with him, reloading her guns at the same time.

"Where is the Avatar?" he asked.

"It's down, but at a heavy price." she said with a glance behind her.

" _You will be overrun in this place, we can pull our armies back at any time, but that's up to you, Luc. Rejoin us, get the Commander to rejoin us."_

He shook his head to clear the harsh words in his head.

"Let's move."

She nodded, and they pushed forward.

" _Failure here is the end for all."_

He was now beside the central tower with Ana and Dan on its roof, he fired a null lance towards an Avatar, hitting it and killing the trooper which was behind it.

The Elders voice was no longer peaceful, its sounded angry, and impatient.

" _For the last year you have been a part of us Luc. Your truly capable of so much more, yet you never grasp the true nature of your power. Return to us, let us help you. We will spare you and your remaining friends, your love will not be harmed."_

A part of them?

" _Yes, we all have been watching you, helping you, giving you guidance, do you not agree?"_

He stopped squeezing the trigger on his gun. They were wrong, _he_ was in control, it was _him_ that got himself this far.

" _You don't think you got this far on your own did you? Do you not remember when we first met?"_

…

" _Does the name Gulisa help you?"_

 _Your…your Gulisa?_

" _No.._ we _are all one within ourselves, she is merely our emissary to you. She was the one to help you the most, our gratitude towards you. If not for her, you would have died long ago."_

A pause.

" _Come now, who did you think was that voice in your head was. Think about it, did you ever hear it before you crossed the desert?"_

What voice? What was it talking about?

 _This voice._

Now it all clicked, like the last two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. All those thoughts, those little mental comments he had had during his time before and on the Avenger. Were none of them his?

 _I am the voice of Gulisa._

The whole time, he thought about it, it _might_ have been his thoughts at some points, but couldn't be sure. His time _before_ the desert didn't have as much mental comments as he did now. So one thing was clear.

Central was right, he _was_ possessed.

 _Not possessed, I'm here to help._

A burst of energy atop the tower snapped him out of it, he saw an Avatar teleport behind Ana and Dan. Using one foot, it kicked Ana off the edge, sending her sprawling to the ground near Kurt, face first. Without looking to Dan to witness his fate, Luc stumbled towards Ana's fallen figure.

 _Some things hold you back._

" _You will be our next greatest asset to this world, return, return to us."_

Luc fought it, fought the voices, he recognised his own self speaking, but was drowned out by Gulisa.

 _No..I won't…I_

 _You will._

He stood over Ana, his shadow towering over her. Without his own accord, he saw her as nothing more than an alien that needed killing.

Unknown to him, the Avatar on the tower had its amplifier pointed at him, it went unnoticed to nearly everyone.

Luc brought up his left foot, intent on smashing the snakes skull in. But before he could bring his boot down, and armoured figure smashed into him, and dent him to the ground.

It was Kurt, holding his blade to his side, with a surprised expression on his face.

"Luc! What're you doing?!"

"N…No…I'm in control." He muttered like someone in an asylum.

 _Embrace it, just let me in._

 _I can't, I won't let you._

 _You are nothing. Without us, you are nothing, you couldn't live an hour out there without us._

 _I escaped New Isa without you._

 _New Isa, yes… Tell me something, what happened the day before you found out you had cancer?_

An easy Question.

…

 _I'm waiting._

The day before… The clinic, but before that he… He couldn't remember.

 _You erased my life!_

 _I won't lie to you, I haven't done such things to you, only the first we met, that's all. And you got that back on your own, surely your whole life couldn't be forgotten, even for me._

She was right, in a way, she wasn't lying, he _knew_ that. But the past twenty years of his life _were_ blank. And he didn't need an Elder to tell him that much.

 _How about this, who was your father? Mother?_

He didn't know.

He told Ana (he didn't know when) that they died long ago. He was lying, he didn't know they were alive or dead.

 _Why can't I remember?_

 _I can tell you, I can give you all the answers, I can tell you who your parents are, who_ you _are from before New Isa. But you have to embrace me, let me take control._

Luc must have had strong will to keep physical control for such a long time, but the Elder didn't comment on this.

Without thinking, Luc grabbed the blade Kurt held, and tugged it hard, his hand was cut badly, and the shock almost made him pass out. He chucked the blade to his other hand, and slashed at one of Kurt's knees, sending him down. Now Ana and Kurt were on the ground, Ana was dazed from landing on her head, and Kurt had his arms raised, telling Luc to calm down, but Luc didn't pay him no attention.

 _You don't care for him, but you care for her…_

Luc held the fusion blade, and without control, he shifted towards Ana.

 _I..I do…there my friends…_

 _Kurt? You don't care for him a bit and you know it._

He had told Ana a while ago that he always thinks about his old friends, Indira and James. Said he never forgot them.

He was lying.

He couldn't give a damn whether they lived or not.

That was the hard, sad truth.

But why? He knew, just knew that they were old comrades, living in the smallest city, but if he couldn't remember any of it, then what happened?

 _I can tell you, just do one thing for me._

 _What?_

 _Kill her._

 _No..why?_

 _She holds you back, she must go._

Why hadn't someone help him already? He couldn't shift his eyes much, only his two friends were in his vision, them and the blade. It felt like the time they entered the Elder's shield back when the Avenger was down. Time moved differently here, there only little reality inside the alien fortress.

 _Why didn't you make me do this sooner?_

The Elders (And Gulisa) didn't answer. Luc thought it may have been due to the fact of Gulisa's weakness, or the help of the Elders in this room. But he couldn't be sure.

His arm holding the blade went limp, so did his body, he hadn't noticed he became ridged during the last few moments, Gulisa had given him control, wanting him to kill Ana on his own will, of his own accord. A cruel test that no one deserved.

Resist, he would surely be taken over and Gulisa would do it for him, and if he let her control him, the same outcome. It seemed to be the end of the road, either Ana would die by his hand, or the Elders. No matter how hard Luc tried, his mind seemed to be stuck in limbo, as if someone wedged a piece of insanity into his skull, tugging him back like rope.

He raised the blade high in the air, intent on bringing it down on Ana like a lumberjack hits a tree. Perhaps through her sacrifice he could save himself…Maybe he should bring it down on his own head, save himself the trouble.

Ana, still coiled down after her hard fall on her head, lazily opened her dreamy eyes and caught his gaze. She uttered one word, one she said as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Luc?"

He plunged the blade.

-XXX-

It clicked in his mind.

He had free will.

Perhaps he could get out of this after all. But not without sacrifices. It would bear him down for his life, or perhaps not. Apparently he didn't care about anything, so says the Elder.

But there was one thing he _did_ come to care for, Luc didn't care for humans, but _aliens_ were different, and he happened to fall for one.

The blade he held was coated with blood that dripped to the floor. He chucked it off to the side, and got to his knees beside his victim.

The weightlessness, the feeling of the lightness in his steps, the incredible psionic power within him, was gone. Gone like a grain of sand lost in the wind. True his hair was still white, and he would still be able to use his powers, but maybe not to such a high degree.

"Luc…"

"I… I'm sorry, Kurt."

He coughs, blood trickled down his chin. "F….Fuckin Elder's, hey?"

Luc couldn't believe that he saw a smile on the dying man's face.

"Yeah…"

Luc heard commotion above him, he turned, and saw the Commander Avatar finishing off the other Avatar on the roof. This now dead Elder had been controlling Luc like a puppet on strings, and now those strings were severed. Perhaps if the Commander was quicker…

Its amplifier smashed to the ground. That small little tool had brought forth Gulisa, and now...was she gone?

Gulisa's presence _was_ gone. It was like a pimple, always there, yet now that it was gone, his mind felt empty like a cave. A sense of relief washed over him, he sighed, and turned back to his friend, supporting his head with his hand.

"Your…promise…"

"What?" Luc voice was light, almost a wheeze.

"You won the…bet…You know, kills?"

He felt like crying, but couldn't.

"No, no you're not going to die."

"You got me good…" he coughed again. "Don't bother..sugar coating it…"

Luc began coughing as well, coughing blood, yet it wasn't because of wounds. It was the cancer, it had return like the menace it was. Maybe Gulisa really was holding it back for him, waiting for the right moment…maybe.

Kurt didn't need words to ask Luc what was wrong.

"Cancer."

"Didn't tell me? Why?"

"I don't know."

Suddenly Luc realised something. There Kurt was, who lived in New Isa just like Luc, he had the answers, Kurt could tell him, tell him everything.

"Kurt, what happened when…Kurt?"

Kurt's body relaxed, arms no longer fighting the hole in his chest, the blade melted the area around his stomach. His eyes were cloudy, then whatever light in them, left.

This didn't stop Luc from carrying him over his shoulder like a fireman, he hoisted him up, and scanned his surroundings.

The Avatars were dead, and the rest of his team was running down to the final part of the platform, where one large gateway stood menacingly. Ana was now stood next to him, eyes full of surprise.

"Luc.."

"Let's move!" he said without emotion.

Without second guessing, they ran and slithered to the gateway. The Queen, along with only ten or so of her forces, was with his team. He checked them over, no one else was dead, Dan had a bloody head, but was still stood upright.

The water cave began to rumble, shaking like an earthquake. The portal began thrashing around, as if it was out of control.

Out of the nearby gates, this was the only one active, and it looked broken.

"Let's go back, back to the one we came through!" Thalia said above the collapsing fortress.

"No time." the Commander responded, outstretching one arm to the portal.

"Commander we…"

The Queen was cut off, the portal in the gateway stabilized, and the Commander was the one to do it.

"MOVE!" she cried.

The Queen and her forces were the first to pour through. After the last one was through, the gateway went crazy for a moment before going normal again.

Water began leaking through the glassy skies.

"Can't do this for long, get going!"

Without hesitating, XCOM went through. First Dan, then Thalia, but as Luc approached with Kurt's corpse, Phoebe froze in place.

"K…Kurt?"

"Move Pheebs!" he pushed her ahead of him, and she disappeared into the purpleness. The platform they stood on trembled, and Luc almost toppled over. He walked into the gateway, Ana on his flank. He yelled over the crashing base.

"You coming Commander?!"

"Right behind you!"

He nodded, knowing full well that she wasn't behind those words. After a moment he disappeared into the gateway.

Ana followed, and the last thing she saw was several ghostly figures behind her, all of them Elders. Then she saw blackness, and left the Commander to her fate.

-XXX-

A mouthful of sand greeted her. She spat it out after a few seconds, and heard the sounds of crashing waves ahead of her.

She looked up, and a great vastness of blue presented itself to her. Small waves of water, no taller than her hand, hit against her tail below her. She sat up, and gazed to her left.

Two armoured figures, one kneeling, one laying still, were two meters beside her. She got to her full height and approached him, the sand parted in her wake, until she was beside the hunched figure she loved.

Luc was breathing somewhat heavily, as if out of breath. She placed one hand on his shoulder and stared at the lifeless corpse he knelt beside.

She opened her mouth to say something. But Luc screamed, screamed a deep, angry scream. His face screwing up in deep hatred, hatred that he couldn't feel anything inside him, even as his friend lay lifeless beside him. He felt inhumane, he felt like a machine.

He closed his eyes, trying hard to find something, _anything_ towards Kurt…

And found nothing.

To his left, a tree line of not so dense trees banked the sand, covering a large hill in greenery. Humans, local residents, had gathered around on the beaches edge, whispering and muttering to each other about them.

He raised up the commlink with one hand.

"Commander?"

Static.

"Central?"

A long droning crackle, then a swoosh, and muttering.

"Lance? What's your status?"

"I'm with K…Nox, he's down, Ana is with me, where at…I don't know, where's everyone else?"

"There fine, somewhere in Germany. We'll track you coordinates, Avengers on the way. Hold position."

"O…OK Central. What about the Commander?"

"She's alright… is Nox.."

"Dead. Pick us up last, there's… no point in hurrying."

"…Copy that, see you soon."

A click, then silence.

Luc went back on his haunches in defeat, and stared down at the sand, not willing enough to look at Kurt any longer.

Ana coiled next to him, and put one arm around him, leaning her head on his shoulder. He return it, and neither spoke.

And that's what they did, hug. Not bothering with the crowd nearby. The police would come, but XCOM would vouch for them.

After ten minutes of embracing, Luc stood up, and walked towards the beach, he trudged through the waves until he was about twenty meters in.

Ana looked at his back, he had left his rifle near her, but had taken his amplifier with him. She watched as he dropped it into the water, and brought his foot down on it. She thought it would electrocute the water, but perhaps Luc already knew it wouldn't, as he bent into the shallow water and pulled out two halves of the weapon. He held both pieces in both hands, examining them before chucking them further down into the sea.

His eyes burned slightly as he watched the orange sun, it was late evening, wherever they were, and the silence engulfed him. A blank, expressionless face was painted on him.

The broken man did nothing, merely watched the sun sink into the horizon.

-XXX-

"So, what happened after you got everyone out?"

"The Elders tried to keep me there to perish with them, but I… managed."

"Go on."

"Stepped back into my old body, back on the Avenger. We rounded up team…'Hugh Jass' who had been teleported around the world, but they got out fine. The survivors, that is."

"The Queen?"

"She and her guards sent out a signal, and we picked them up from Italy. She's pledged her whole species support to us, for some reason. But she's held up her end, reports say that almost every Viper out there is fighting alongside the resistance."

"You think she'll keep the alliance?"

"Probably, but I've worked with Ana, if she can be trusted, then the Queen may be as well."

"What have you done about…Thalia? Xida? And the other Muton's on the Avenger?"

"Those two Muton's are having none of your 'monitoring', they're going there own way, fighting and gaining more Muton's to their sides."

"A threat?"

"We get along, they won't be."

"And what about this 'Psi Operative' of yours, where is he?"

"That, I do not know."

"You're not a good liar Commander."

"I don't give away personal information."

"Maybe I'll go ask him myself."

"He's broken, he's had a lot on his plate, and I suggest you don't piss off a guy who can use his mind to cripple your own."

"You think this is over?"

…

"Far from it…but for now, I say it is."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-

 **A/N: I thank you, if you have read this far, than you deserve a medal. This will just about do it for Humanity's Ascension. And I had a lot of fun doing it. But I won't leave you in the dark as to what happens next for Luc and Ana. Nor will I leave his now more confusing past a mystery. Call it a 'Prequel' if you will. It will take place through the eyes of an** _ **older**_ **character, a certain** _ **father**_ **figure, do I need to say anymore? I'll probably call it 'Our Fall' or some shit like that, so keep an eye out for that.**

 **Again, thanks for every review, fav, follow, and every visit and view.**

 **(A small epilogue after this, hope you enjoy!)**


	22. Epilogue

In the beginning, there were four of them.

Indira, James, Kurt and Luc.

Indira, leader at heart, led James and Kurt into the depths of New Isa, revealing to them the dangers and lies of ADVENT, despite their hospitality towards them. They were quick to bring up the fight and follow her.

When Luc met them, it took a corrupted video to turn him, yet despite his hesitance, he joined up and fought with them, meeting an alien that his friends would sooner kill then hear out.

First it was Indira, killed by an explosion in the middle of a building of murderers. A bullet to the head beforehand didn't kill her quickly, she felt the burns consume her flesh before the end.

Death by Luc.

James, taken away, sacrificing himself to get Luc and Kurt away. Sent to a nearby facility to be processed (ADVENT labelled him 'non essential') but before ADVENT could turn him into paste to fuel the Avatar machine, he perished in a stasis tank, life support switched off by a human hand.

Death by Luc.

Kurt held out, sad to see his friends dead, but oblivious to the killer. He fought, joked, and died. By his own blade, wielded by his last true friend.

Death by Luc.

Now only one remained, one last man who sat on the eastern coast of New South Wales. Every morning he would make a brisk walk down the hill from his house and up to his 'acquaintance' who ran the local fish n' chip shop.

Every morning the winds from the coast would brush him over, giving him a feeling of peacefulness in his empty head. The shop was called 'Shacks', ran by a guy with the same name. Little bald dude, with a cheery, bubbly attitude.

"Usual?" he'd ask.

"Sure." Would always be his answer.

The smell of the battering of sweet golden potatoes would fill Luc's nostrils as he waited on the wooden bench out front. He'd watch the sea for precisely four minutes before his food was ready. He'd thank Shack and leave, his feet would feel grass, then road, then sand. Now cross legged, he unwrapped the paper, and chow down on his chips, slowly, but surely, watching the waves with dreamy eyes.

It was late morning, eleven or so, and today was special for him. His love, his life, loved how the human food tasted, and battered would always make her smile with glee at the sight of it.

Her smile was something he felt he needed, like a junkie needs heroin.

She also adored the beach, not to rough, but the waves were big enough to cause some excitement as she swerved though them.

At almost perfect timing, or perhaps she smelt the food, she emerged from the water like a mermaid would to seduce the unlucky sailors. She flicked her hood like a blonde would her hair, knowing full well that Luc's eyes were on her. She made her way to the shallows, and came onto dry land, drops of water soaking the dry sands behind her.

Her scales were shiny, the warm sun already having its effect on her cool body from the cold waters. She slowly slithered over to Luc, her beautiful figure was soaked in by Luc's eyes. She could see the effect her body had on him.

She reached him, and he through her a towel, which was bunched up under his arm. She caught it, and dried herself. She did this slowly, carefully, making sure she touched every part of herself with the soft cloth.

"You always swim in the nude?"

"I like..what's the words..skinny dipping?"

"Bet you do."

She was practically dry in a few minutes, and Luc tossed the final cloth in his arms at her, setting down the chips beside him. She dressed into the cloth, wrapping it around her somewhat like a mummy would do to bandages. Only the purple cloth went over one shoulder and covered her whole middle section, all the way to her lower tail. Looking much like those old Roman clothes.

She sat next to him, and didn't hesitate digging in.

"Oul tly it!" She said with a mouthful.

"What?" he replied with a smile.

She swallowed, and wrapped a small section of her tail to his thigh.

"You should try it."

"Heh! No thanks."

"Why not? I do it, and besides, no one comes to this part of town, no one will see us…"

"The female body is a work of art, no one wants to see what I got."

"Mmm…"

"And you know, it's just…it's so open and public and…"

"Mmm…"

"Maybe it's just a human thing or…what're you?..."

She was right up in his face, flicking her tongue and wetting his cheek.

He brought her in, and she accepted, they kissed a long kiss for a minute or two before separating.

"I love you, my Ki…" she trailed off, her newfound arousal was gone just like that.

"Ana?"

"I…"

"It's OK, I'm sure something will turn up."

"It still daunts on me."

"I know, but it doesn't matter, were here, and that's that. It will work out."

"But…Not one. Not a single little one to call our own."

He puts both arms around her, kissing her head lovingly.

"I'm sure it just takes time."

She dropped her head sadly.

"Besides.." his voice picked up. "Not sure I'm ready for little Angelko's, little devils will probably poison me."

"Luc!" she said, somewhat angry, but he heard the playfulness within it. "Don't call them that!"

"Well if there anything like you than they will be."

She pushes him lightly, and like a dramatic movie, he fakes a fall, and a gasp of pain as he tumbled to the same.

"Luc!?" she leans over him. "Are you alright?"

"Need…a medkit…" he wheezes.

"Oh you little…"

They share a laugh, and embrace one another, Luc still on the ground.

Luc's comment reminded himself of the healing little GREMLIN and its owner. He hadn't heard from her in a while now, she didn't take Kurt's death well, no one did. But she may have had the worst of it. He hoped her, and the rest of his team, were somewhere safe.

The world was revolting, Australia had the least of it, but the rest of the world was still fighting. Hundreds of people died every day, and the ADVENT remnants were still somewhat a threat to humanity and its allies.

He wondered, as he embraced his alien love, if they would have to go back to the fight. The alien fortress was destroyed, the Elders flickered from life the moment they drowned.

Yet, _somewhat_ unknown to him, psionic presence could still be felt, somewhere in the depths of the great blue ocean.

Maybe he would return, maybe when he was just about to get used to this new life. Where the beach greeted him every morning, and he slept in a cosy little home with Ana. It again, was the hard, sad truth.

He would return.

…

 _You will return._


	23. A Prequel

**A/N: Just letting you all know a** _ **prequel**_ **(the past) is now out. Called it 'Our Fall', check it out on my page, or don't, but the answers are hidden there. The wasteland awaits!**


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